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CIHM/ICMH 

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Indian  and  Northern  Affairs 

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Affaires  Indiennes  et  du  Nord 

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N  E  \ V    V  S  ( ..  i , .  \  \  i  *    C  A 1 '  ■ !  •  ( \  ■ !  ■  S 


''  ''■  I '  •  ;  kp    III  (  .'an  \n  \ 


ESrHER   .VHEEL^VRIGHT 

MOTHER     SUPERIOR    OF     THt     URSULINES    OF     auEBEC 

/■>.'.■'.■  .,  horh-ait  s,:„t  lo  lu-r  „.■.,//„;■  n.  ,j,„ 


e.   A  LICK  HAKF-H 


(K97 


-i 


'^.: 


TRUE  STORIES  OF 
NEW   ENGLAND    CAPTIVES 


Carried  to  Canada 
During  the  Old  French  and  Indian  Wars 


BY 


C.  ALICE  BAKER 


CAMBRIDGE 
1897 


GLEANINGS    FROM    NEW     '"   ^''''''''""■"" 


VES 


('"Vyright,  ISO? 


(UIEENFIELD,  MASS. 

1897 


TO 


iKOIKC.K,,    OUK    CAI.nVKS,NCAXA„..V    .NO    .O    THKIK   SUC- 
CESSORS MV  WHOM  I  HAVK  MKEN  KINDI.v   HELPED 
IN  MV   WORK  THKSE  NARRATIVKS 
A  RK  AFFECl'IONATELY 
JJEDICATEl) 


PREFACE 

ada  whence  thev  le  o  ^T  r;'''''"'"'  ^■="'"^-^' '"  ^■•■'"■ 
fate  of  the  captiVe.  r h  ^  'i,  '  ^  ""'"'  '"  '""''  ^'- 
I  have  taken  t,no„  ,„v  1  "  '""""""  •'  l""'!'"^-.  a„c! 

their  return.  '  "  '"'■'■^'""  '"  °I»"  'he  door  for 

Mr.'sii::;  o'Dr^:::;:;-^!  "r'  '-^-'-'^^'^-e  Anti,n.rv. 

the  Wilderness.         „;:'::    "      """  '"-^  "''"««"-  -" 

-  the  work  Of  ™,  ur::-^  ;rer::  '^-^ "  """^^'  ^'=''-' 

Cambridge,  Mass.  ^"  '^-  '" 

March,  1897. 


CONTENTS 


CMRiSHNK  Ot,s.     (A  romance  Of  real  life  on.  1      r        • 

told  in  the  records  )  ^'""  ^'■""^'^•'"  ''-^ 

Esther  WnEELWRionr  '■■••■ 

Storv  or  A  York  Family.     '■■■••• 

DiEFicui/riKs  AND  Dancers  IV  T,n^',,       '         '         "         • 

•HKR  Town  ,670.    '''''"""■•'"■' "'■•'^"■■N'''  ">•  a    Fkon- 

Eunice  Wh.uams.      .  "'■••• 

Ensign  John  Siieedon.     ''''••• 

My  Hunt  eok  the  Captives"         '"■■•• 

Tw„C...,v..     (A  ™K,„ce  „r  „.,■„/.,„„„„.,„,  ^,^,„.^  • 

A  Dav  at  Oka.  .■"••••. 

Thankful  Stelmins.       ."''■■•• 
A  Scion  oe  the   Church   in   Deei'li,",  >,     "t        '         '         ' 
P'^KSsis.      (;\ntten   for  M,     /  J-seimnOctave 

of  the  foundir      H       T     ;■'•  '""''"'^'^'^  anniversary 
Hertel  Dk  Rouvii  li  ''"""'^  '"  '^''^'•'^^'^••)  • 

Father  Meriel-Mary  Silver  '■■•■• 
APPENDIX.  "■■••■ 

A  Christinr  Otis. 

B  Esther  W„,rEL,^,j,j,,„,,.      "         "         '         • 

C  Eunice  Williams.      .."■'■ 

I^  Ensign  John  Sheldon      '        '        '         ' 

E  My  Hunt  FOR  THE  Captives        ' 

INDEX  ^"^^--^^^  Stebiuns.     .         .         .     '    _    "    ^ 


I'AfJK 
5 

35 
69 

89 
128 

'55 
■93 

259 


272 
304 
319 

335 
358 
394 
396 

399 
401 


/ 


nxUSTRATlOiVS 


KSTHKN    U'i.KKMVRlo.n., 

Mother  Supenor'„f  the    LJrsulin..     .    ..  J'>o'itispiece. 

Croix.  .  '-f-    '^y    Kev.   M^.,,.    ,Sa,nt- 

^VnKK,.UK„;Hr    Cat    „„•    a,<ms'    f    '         '         "         •         • 

,,,  Esther  in  ,„,;'"""'" •""- -H  ..,  l.c- dauglue,: 

flCSlMJiEOf  THE  MARRUrc    D„  '  ■  ■  . 

M^'K.  Joseph-Octave  P,,ssis.  "         "        •         • 


5^ 

60 
66 
68 


12 

'32 
166 

206 

252 
256 


268 
272 


CHRISTINE    OTIS. 


A    ROMANCE   OP   RKAL    ,„E   ON    T„E    FRONTIER    AS   T<H,„ 

IN   THE    RECORDS. 


IN'TRODircTION. 


di.sturbed  in  the  ho„,es  of  th "cHff  Dweller^  '  --an^ed  un- 

immemorial  had  been  a  terror  to  every  land      The  -itorv  nf 
the  first  meeting  of  the  white  man  and  the  red  man  on  o,?r 

R^;;rtre'rte';t^L\t^^^^^^^^^ 

Apparently  he  had  no  encounter  with  the  natives.    Whether 


6  TRUE   STOKIKS   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAITIVES. 

his  mickleness,  or  his  moderation  and  wisdom,  had  anything 
to  do  with  this,  the  chronicler  saith  not.  Now  there  was 
great  talk  about  Leif's  Vinland  voyage,  and  Thorvald,  his 
brother,  thought  the  land  had  been  too  little  explored.  Then 
said  Leif  to  Thorvald,  "Thou  shalt  go  with  my  ship,  brother, 
if  thou  wilt  to  Vinland." 

So  in  1 002,  Thorvald  and  his  men  came  to  Vinland,  to  Leif's 
booths,  and  dwelt  in  peace  there  that  winter.  In  the  summer 
they  sent  the  long  boat  along  to  the  westward  to  explore. 
On  the  island  they  found  a  corn-shed  of  wood.  More  works 
of  men  they  found  not,  and  they  went  back  to  Leif's  booths 
in  the  fall.     "After  that  they  coasted  into  the  mouths  of  firths 

that   were   nearest   to   them and  to   a  headland   that 

stretched  out,  and  they  saw  upon  the  sands  within  the  head- 
land three  heights.  They  went  thither,  and  saw  there  three 
skin  boats  and  three  men  under  each.  Then  they  divided 
the  people,  and  laid  hands  on  them  all  except  one,  that  got 
off  with  his  boat.  They  killed  these  eight,  and  then  went 
back  to  the  headland,  and  saw  in  the  firth  some  heights,  and 
thought  they  were  dwellings.  Then  came  from  the  firth  in- 
numerable skin  boats  and  made  towards  them."  Thorvald 
said,  "AVe  will  set  up  our  battle  shields,  and  guard  ourselves 
as  best  we  can,  but  fight  but  little.  So  they  did,  and  the 
Skraelings  shot  at  them  for  a  while,  but  they  fled,  each  as 
fast  as  he  could."     Thorvald  was  killed. 

Karlsefni  came  next,  "And  this  agreement  made  he  with 
his  seamen  :  that  they  should  have  even  handed  all  that  they 

should  get  in  the  way  of  goods.     They  bore  out  to  sea 

and  came  to  Leif's  booths  hale  and  whole After  the 

first  winter  came  the  summer, then  they  saw  appear 

the  Skraelings,  and  there  came  from  out  the  wood  a  great 
number  of  men.  At  the  roaring  of  Karlsefni's  bulls  the 
Skraelings  were  frightened  and  ran  off  with  their  bundles. 
These  were  furs  and  sable  skins,  and  skin  wares  of  all  kinds. 


mM     M  IIJBU.l"^!! 


,     '^;>..,...r■r■'Vtl'■'. 


CIIRISTINH   OTIS. 


Karlsefni  had  the  doors  of  the  booths  guarded.  Then  the 
Skraelings  took  down  their  bags,  and  opened  them  and  of- 
fered them  for  sale,  and  wanted  weapons  for  them.  But 
Karlsefni  forbade  them  to  sell  weapons.  He  took  this  plan  : 
he  bade  the  women  bring  out  their  dairy  stuff,  and  no  sooner 
had  they  seen  that,  than  they  would  have  that  and  nothing 
more.  Now  this  was  the  way  the  vSkraelings  traded :  they 
bore  off  their  wares  in  their  stomachs ;  but  Karlsefni  and  his 
companions  had  their  bags  and  their  skin  wares,  and  so  they 

parted Karlsefni  then  had  posts  driven  strongly  about 

his  booths,  and  made  all  complete." 

"Next  winter  the  Skraelings  came  again,  and  were  more 
than  before,  and  they  had  the  same  wares.  Then  Karl- 
sefni said  to  the  women,  'Now  bring  forth  the  same  food  that 
was  most  liked  betore,and  no  other.'  And  when  they  saw  it, 
they  cast  their  bundles  in  over  the  fence.  But  one  of  them 
being  killed  by  one  of  Karlsefni's  men,  they  all  fled  in  haste, 
and  left  their  garments  and  wares  behind.  '  Now,'  said 
Karlsefni, '  I  think  they  will  come  for  the  third  time  in  anger, 
and  with  many  men.'  It  was  done  as  Karlsefni  had  said, 
there  was  a  battle  and  many  of  the  Skraelings  fell." 

The  whole  story  of  the  dealings  of  the  white  man  with  the 
red  man  is  here  in  a  nutshell.  Thorvald  goes  ashore  with 
his  company.  "Here  it  is  fair,"  he  cries,  "and  here  would  I 
like  to  raise  my  dwelling,"  but  seeing  upon  the  sands  three 
boats,  and  three  men  under  each,  "this  iron-armed  and  stal- 
wart crew," — thirty  broad-breasted  Norsemen,  lay  hands  upon 
the  helpless  nfne  and  kill  them.  One  escapes  to  tell  the  tale. 
A  fight  ensues,  and  Thorvald  pays  the  penalty  of  his  mis- 
deeds. The  savage  has  felt  the  power  of  the  white  man's 
weapons.  He  covets  them.  He  comes  the  next  year  to 
Karlsefni  with  sable  skins and  wants  weapons  in  ex- 
change. Karlsefni  wisely  refuses.  The  women  bring  out 
the  dairy  stuff,  and  the  simple  savages  trade.     "They  bear 


m 


8  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENCILAN'D   CAl'TIVES. 

off  their  wares  in  their  stomachs ! "  Hut  Karlsefni  had 
their  bags,  and  their  precious  skin  wares.  vSo  they  part. 
The  booths  are  palisaded.  Winter  brings  the  hungry  savage 
once  more  to  the  white  man's  door.  With  reckless  generos- 
ity he  throws  his  bundles  in  over  the  palisade.  vSupplied 
with  food  in  return,  he  is  going  peacefully  away,  when,  for 
mere  pastime,  he  is  felled  to  the  earth — killed  by  one  of 
Karlsefni's  men.  His  followers  llee.  They  come  back. 
There  is  a  battle  and  many  of  them  fall. 

Here  we  might  rest  the  case  of  the  red  man  i^crsus  the 
white  man.  But  the  evidence  is  cumulative  against  the  lat- 
ter. Columbus  has  left  us  an  account  of  his  reception  by  the 
"Indians,"  as  he  names  them.  Native  and  Spaniard  were  an 
equal  surprise  to  each  other.  The  savage  thought  that  the 
ships  of  the  strangers  were  huge  birds,  that  had  borne  these 
wonderful  beings  down  from  heaven  on  tlieir  great,  white 
wings.  They  were  "friendly  and  gentle"  1  >  the  new  comers. 
Columbus  gave  them  colored  caps,  beads  :>  ^  hawks  bells, 
in  exchange  for  twenty-pound  balls  of  cotton  yarn,  great 
numbers  of  tame  parrots  and  ta]iioca  cakes.  He  coasted  about 
the  island  in  the  ship's  boat,  and  some  of  the  natives  swam 
after  him,  while  others  ran  along  on  the  shore,  tempting  him 
with  fruits  and  fresh  water  to  land.  He  speaks  of  them  al- 
ways as  decorous,  temperate,  peaceful,  honest,  generous  and 
hospitable.  "They  are  very  simple  and  honest,"  he  says, 
"and  exceedingly  liberal  with  all  that  they  have,  none  of 
them  refusing  anything  he  may  possess,  when  asked  for  it, 
but  on  the  contrary  inviting  us  to  ask  them.  They  exhibit 
great  love  towards  all  others  in  preference  to  themselves ; 
they  also  give  objects  of  great  value  for  trifles,  and  content 

themselves  with  little  or  nothing  in  return A  sailor 

received  for  a  leather  strap  as  much  gold  as  was  worth  three 
golden  nobles,' they  bartered  like  idiots,  cotton  and 

'A  noble  is  about  $i.6o. 


ciiRisTiNK  orrs. 


tiful  and  acccptall.  art  c ts  't,  ^    ''  "'™'  "■■'">'  '^<-''-'"- 

rvor  a,c  th..^.  .slow  or  stiipui,  but  of  very  clear  understand  „;/ 
rjamc    r     """t/""""^  "'>'  f'--   f--   "-  first     'S 

and^;%o„iinurrert:rt;f  ir:;;7:r  T' 
i".sofa.,est.,iraee,.t;^:t;-;^::-i::::tiS^ 

would  come  out  in  fhi-Mnrrc..  f,.  ,.  ^"iiuien 

•  ^  LiLciimenl  and  overworV      W^-,vof  ^f    n  / 

-Usfy  Spanish  avarice,  he  sent  great  :;:,bers  „   the™  to  be" 

1; ::  '■'s:;'"t''T/"'"  ""■  '^^"^^«'  -^  "-at  ki„g!w 

th  ^c  s'v;^"  a   ,'r"  'r--!'^"','-^"'-"^  '"  '-"g  Henry  the  Seventh 

to  the  beach  malcing  signVo    wXm'      Th  T^^l^-^ded 
want  of  water  and  trie'd  to  LL^  Z^ihe'  ^^f'^^^^  0:^,^ 

towards  the  natfvr'"'nT  ''-"'^  V""" '"^^^  "'^  '""^'-'^ 
shore  and  tJr  ^  ''""'"  '""■'"-'''  '"™  back  upon  the 

wm  :;":ttrfir;"'?h':??™,  '-t  '"^  =^-''  -^-^^^^ 

,,reat  nre.     1  he  sailor  shrieked  with  fear.     His 


wm^^^^mm 


10  TRUE   STORIES    OI"    NEW    ENCI.AND   CAI'Tn  ES. 


comrades  in  the  boat  <i^azed  with  horror,  cxpcctiiv;  to  see  him 
roasted  and  eaten  before  their  eyes,  l^iit  after  tenderly 
warming  and  dryinji^him  they  led  him  baektotlie  shore,  and 
stood  aloof  while  he  swam  off  to  his  friends.  vShall  I  tell  you 
how  this  kindness  was  repaid  ?  Coastinj^  north,  a  party  of 
them  landed.  The  natives  fled  to  the  woods.  ( )nly  two  wom- 
en and  half  a  dozen  children  remained,  hiding  terrified  in  the 
grass.  These  civilized  Frenchmen  carried  off  one  of  the  ba- 
bies and  would  have  taken  the  vounger  woman,  who  was 
handsome,  but  her  outcries  made  them  leave  her  behind. 
There  is  no  clue  to  the  fate  of  Verrazano  ;  it  may  be  true,  as 
Ramusio  affirms,  that  on  a  later  voyage  he  was  killed  and 
eaten  by  the  savages. 

Ten  years  later,  Jacques  Cartier  sailed  into  the  ni(uith  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  bore  away  for  France  to  tell  the  King- 
he  had  discovered  the  northwest  passage  to  Cathay.  He  car- 
ried with  him  two  young  Indians  "lured  into  his  clutches," 
says  Mr.  Parkman,  "by  an  act  of  villainous  treachery."  I 
suppose  "the  greasy  potentate,"  whose  sons  they  were,  loved 
his  boys  as  well  as  any  father  loves  his  children,  but  the  wild 
Indian  was  no  more  than  a  wild  turkey  to  the  European  ex- 
plorer, and  both  were  constantly  carried  over  as  samples 
of  the  natural  products  of  the  New  World.  Cartier  brought 
back  the  boys  the  next  year  to  guide  him  up  the  river.  He 
went  up  as  far  as  Montreal,  and  coming  back  to  Quebec 
his  crew  were  smitten  with  scurvy.  There  he  might  easily 
have  been  cut  off  by  the  savages,  but  "they  proved  his  salva- 
tion." He  learned  from  them  a  cure  for  the  distemper,  and 
his  crew  were  restored  to  health.  "When  the  winter  of  mis- 
ery had  worn  away,"  he  seized  Donnacona  and  his  chiefs,  to 
carry  them  back  to  the  French  court.  Mr.  Parkman  tells  the 
story:  "He  lured  them  to  the  fort  and  led  them  into  an  am- 
buscade of  sailors,  who,  seizing  the  astonished  guests,  hur- 
ried them  on  board  the  ship.     This  treachery  accomplished, 


CHRISTINE   OTIS.  I  I 


the  voyag'crs  proceeded  to  plant  the  emblem  of  Christianity. 
The  cross  was  raised,  the  fleur-de-lis  huntj  upon  it,  and 
spreading  their  sails  they  steered  for  home."  Cartier  came 
back  once  more,  and  told  the  natives  that  their  chief,  Donna- 
cuna,  was  dead,  and  the  others  were  living  like  lords  in 
France  • — which  information  must  have  been  very  gratifying 
to  them,  under  the  circumstances  ! 

In  1602,  Gosnold  visited  the  Massachusetts  coast.  The  In- 
dians traded  with  him  valuable  furs  and  "their  fairest  col- 
lars" of  copper  for  the  merest  trifles.  "We  became  great 
friends,"  says  one  of  the  party.     "They  helped  cut  and  carry 

our   sassafras,  and  some  lay  aboard  our   ship They 

are  exceeding   courteous  and   gentle  of   disposition," 

"quick-eyed,  and  steadfast  in  their  looks,  fearless  of  others' 
harms,  as  intending  none  thcm.selves.  Some  of  the  meaner 
sort,  given  to  filching,  which  the  very  name  of  savages,  not 
weighing  their  ignorance  in  good  or  evil,  may  easily  excuse." 

In  1605,  Weymouth  entered  the  Penobscot  river.  He  gave 
the  savages  "brandy,  which  they  tasted,  but  would  not  drink." 
He  had  two  of  them  at  supper  in  his  cabin,  and  pres- 
ent at  prayer  time.  "They  behaved  very  civilly,  neither 
laughing  nor  talking  all  the  time,  and  at  supper  fed  not  like 
men  of  rude  education  ;  neither  would  they  eat  or  drink  more 
than  seemed  to  content  nature."  They  carefully  returned 
pewter  dishes  lent  them  to  carry  peas  ashore  to  their  women. 
As  Weymouth  "could  not  entice  three  others  aboard,"  whom 
he  wished  to  kidnap,  he  "consulted  with  his  crew  how  to  catch 
them  ashore."  Then  they  carried  peas  ashore,  "which  meat 
they  loved"  and  a  box  of  trifles  for  barter.  "I  opened  the 
box,"  says  an  actor  in  this  tragedy,  "and  showed  them  trifles 
to  exchange,  thinking  thereby  to  have  banished  fear  from 
the  other  and  drawn  him  to  return.  But  when  we  could  not, 
we  used  little  delay,  but  suddenly  laid  hands  on  them,  and 
it  was  as  much  as  five  or  six  of  us  could  do  to  get  them     ito 


grrjjg--'!*''?!.'^:- 


12  rKUH   STONIKS   OF   \K\V    KXCI.ANI)    CAri'FVKS. 

the  light  gig,  for  they  were  strong,  and  so  naked  as  by  far 
cur  best  hold  was  by  the  long  hair  on  their  hepds ;  and  we 
woMld  have  been  very  loath  t(.  have  done  them  any  hurt, 
whieli  of  necessity  we  had  been  constrained  to  have  done  if 
we  h"d  attempted  them  in  a  multitude,  which  we  must  and 
would,  rather  than  have  wanted  them,  being  a  matter  of  great 
importance  for  the  full  aeeomplishment  of  our  voyage."  The 
chronicler  after  praising  the  country,  thus  concludes  his  re- 
lation :  "Although  at  the  time  we  surprised  them  they  made 

their  best   resistance yet,  after   perceiving   by  their 

kind  usage  we  intended  them  no  harm,  they  have  uever  since 
seemed  discontented  with  us,  but  very  tractable,  loving,  and 
willing  by  their  best  means,  to  satisfy  us  in  anything  we  de- 
mand of  them Neither  have  they  at  any  time  been 

at  the  least  discord  among  themselves,  insomuch  as  we  have 
not  seen  them  angry,  but  merry  and  so  kind,  as,  if  you  give 
anything  to  one  of  them,  he  will  distribute  part  to  every  one 
of  the  rest." 

Mr.  Higginson  tells  us  that  Weymouth's  Indians  were  the 
objects  of  great  wonder  in  England,  and  crowds  of  people 
followed  them  in  the  streets.  It  is  thought  that  vShakespeare 
referred  to  them  in  "The  Tempest"  a  few  years  later.  Trin- 
eulo  there  wishing  to  take  the  monster  Caliban  to  Eng- 
land, says :  "Not  a  holiday  fool  there  but  would  give  a  piece 

of  silver When  they  will  not  give  a  doit  to  relieve  a 

lame  beggar,  they  wuU  lay  out  ten  to  see  a  dead  Indian." 

John  Smith's  disasters  in  Virginia  were  due  to  the  disor- 
derly conduct  of  his  men  towards  the  natives. 

It  is  true  that  an  Indian  arrow  was  "shot  into  the  throat" 
of  one  of  Hudson's  crew,  but  the  chronicler  who  tells  the  tale, 
says  they  found  "loving  people"  on  their  first  landing ;  and 
the  disgraceful  debauch  in  the  cabin  of  the  "Half  Moon,"  does 
not  speak  well  for  the  conduct  of  the  Dutch  on  that  occasion. 

John  Smith  narrates  how  Captain  Hunt  "betrayed"  twenty 


CHRIS  TINK    oris.  13 


savag-cs  from  Plymouth,  and  seven  from  Cape  Cod  ";il)()ar(l 
his  ship,  -nd  most  dishonestly  and  inhumanly,  for  the  kind 
nsaj^e  of  ■•  ,  %  and  all  my  men,  earrieu  ihem  with  him  to  Ma- 
ligo  (Maktjjfa)  and  there,  for  a  little  private  t^ain,  sold  these 
silly  sava<j^es  for  rials  of  eijji'ht."  An  old  woman  of  ninety  af- 
terward told  Edward  Winslow,  with  tears  and  j^roans,  tliat 
her  three  sons,  her  only  dependenee,  were  among  the  number. 

The  unserupulousness  of  Morton's  followers  at  Merrymount, 
whoeheated,  abu.sed,  and  stole  from  the  Indians,  and  sold  them 
liquor  and  weapons,  eame  near  being  the  destruetion  of  the 
Pilgrims. 

It  is  an  unweleome  ta.sk,  while  commemorating  our  ances- 
try who  suffered  death  or  a  cruel  captivity  at  the  hands  of 
the  savage,  to  say  a  word  in  extenuation.  I  am  no  hero-wor- 
shipper. I  find  more  shrewdness  than  saintline.ss  in  Massa- 
soit's  friendship.  It  was  for  him  a  jhoice  of  evils.  I  see 
nothing  of  statesmanship  or  valor  to  admire  in  Philip.  No 
more  do  I  think  there  is  any  basis  for  a  wholesale  denuncia- 
tion of  his  race.  We  have  seen  how  from  Maine  to  Cuba  the 
explorer  was  the  aggressor.  In  later  colonial  times  it  was  a 
poor  schooling  we  gave  the  red  man,  and  he  did  credit  to 
our  teaching.  We  know  little  of  the  savage  before  his  con- 
tamination by  the  white  man.  Revenge  belongs  to  the  child- 
hood of  nations  as  well  as  to  that  of  individuals.  To  love  our 
enemies, — to  do  good  to  them  that  despitefully  use  us,  is  a 
hard  feat  even  for  an  adult  Christian  civilization.  If,  as  John 
Robinson  wivshed,  we  had  converted  some  before  we  had  killed 
any,  we  should  make  a  better  show  in  history.  That  was  a 
grim  satire  of  old  Ninigret,  who  told  Mr.  Mayhew,  when 
he  wanted  to  preach  to  his  people,  that  he  "had  better  go  and 
make  the  English  good  first."  We  should  not  shrink  from 
tracing  effects  to  their  causes.  The  Indian  trader  from  Karl- 
sefni  to  Richard  Waldron,  (I  may  say  to  the  frontier  agent  of 
to-day,)  was  dishonest.     He  sold  rum  to  the  savage,  and  then 


Kg 


■^ 


wmmm^m 


14  TRIJK    STORIKS   Ol"    NKW    KXCl.AM)    CAF'TIVKS. 


fined  him  for  ^ctting^  drunk.  Was  it  truth  the  Indian  ut- 
tered, or  a  bitter  jest  on  thedihited  quality  ot  the  li([Uor,  when 
he  testified  before  the  eourt  tliat  he  "had  paid  /,"ioofora 
drink  from  Mr.  Purehas  his  well?"  The  fine  was  not  always 
crossed  out  when  it  was  paid  till  the  exasperated  savaj^'e 
crossed  it  out  with  one  blow  of  his  hatchet,  for  which  he  had 
paid  ten  times  its  worth  in  furs.  The  (jovernment  was  not 
always  responsible,  though  the  "Walking  Purchase"  and  the 
murder  of  Miantononioh  are  rank  offences.  Usually  the 
frontier  settlement  suffered  for  the  sins  of  individuals.  There 
is  no  more  striking  illustration  of  this  fact  than  the  story  of 

CIIRLSTINE  OTIS. 

In  1623  some  London  fishmongers  set  up  their  stages  on  the 
Piscata(iua  river. 

Passaconaway.  the  sagacious  sachem  of  the  Pennacooks, 
desirous  of  an  ally  against  his  troublesome  neighbors,  the 
Tarratines,  urged  more  I'^nglish  to  come.  He  gave  them 
deeds  of  land  in  exchange  for  coats,  shirts  and  kettles.  The 
natives  continued  peaceable, — the  whites  fished,  planted  and 
traded  unmolested.  Feeling  death  approaching,  old  Passa- 
conaway made  a  great  feast,  and  th  is  addressed  his  chieftains : 
"Listen  to  your  father.  The  white  men  are  the  sons  of  the 
morning.  The  (ireat  vSpirit  is  their  faLher.  Never  war  with 
them.  If  you  light  the  fires  His  breath  will  turn  the  flames 
upon  you  and  destroy  you."  Knowles,  a  tributary  chief, 
whose  tribe  occupied  the  regii)n  round  about  the  settlers  on 
the  Piscataqua,  felt  similar  presentiments.  vSending  for  the 
principal  white  men,  he  asked  them  to  mark  out  and  record 
in  their  books  a  grant  of  a  few  hundred  acres  for  his  people. 
The  old  sachem's  son  Wannaloncet,  and  Blind  Will,  succes- 
sor to  Knowles,  determined  to  heed  Passaconaway 's  advice, 
and  keep  peace  with  the  whites,  and  the  Pennacooks  remained 


ciiuis'iixi':  OTIS.  15 


neutral  throiij^h  Philip's  war.  At  that  time  Cochcco,  now 
Dover,  New  Hampshire,  was  the  main  tradinjj^  post  with  the 
Indians  of  all  that  rey^ion.  Mnjor  Richard  Waldron  was  the 
most  prominent  man  of  Coeheco.  He  held  many  offices  of 
trust  under  the  (iovernment,  and  a  command  in  Philip's  war. 
He  was  naturally  severe;  wa.s  a  successful  Indian  trader,  and 
had  the  reputation  of  bein^  a  dishonest  one.  It  was  said  that 
he  did  not  cancel  their  accounts  when  they  had  paid  him,  and 
that  in  buyinj^  beaver  he  reckoned  his  fist  as  weij^hin^  a 
pound.  Though  Philip's  war  bcj^an  later  in  the  l*^astern 
country,  it  ra<>ed  there  with  terrible  ferocity,  "where,"  says 
Mr.  Palfrey,  "from  the  rouj^h  character  of  the  Enj^lish  set- 
tlers, it  may  well  be  believed  that  the  natives  were  not  with- 
out provocation."  Troops  were  ordered  out  by  the  (jcncral 
Court  of  Massachusetts  to  subdue  the  eastern  Indians,  but 
the  snow  lay  four  feet  on  a  h  vcl  in  December,  and  military 
operations  were  impossible.  The  Indians,  pinched  with  fam- 
ine from  the  severity  of  the  winter,  and  dependent  upon  the 
frontier  settlements  for  food,  sued  for  peace  through  Major 
Waldron,  promising  to  i^ivc  up  their  captives  without  ransom, 
and  to  be  quiet  in  the  future.  In  July,  1676,  Waldron,  on  be- 
half of  the  whites,  siyfned  a  treaty  with  them  at  Coeheco. 
After  Philip's  death  some  of  his  followers  fled  to  the  Penna- 
eooks.  They  were  taken  and  put  in  Dover  jail.  Escapinj^, 
they  incited  some  of  the  Maine  Indians  to  renew  their  dep- 
redations. Two  companies  were  sent  to  the  East  under  Cap- 
tains Sill  and  Hathorne.  They  reached  Dover  on  the  6th  of 
September.  There  they  found  four  hundred  Indians,  part 
of  them  Pennacooks  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the  war ;  others 
who  had  been  party  to  the  treaty  a  few  months  before,  and 
the  rest,  southern  Indians,  who,  fleeing  to  the  eastward  afier 
Philip's  death,  had  been  received  into  the  tribes  there.  Why 
they  were  at  Dover  we  are  not  told,  but  evidently  with  no 
hostile  intent,  as  their  women  and  children  were  with  them. 


|6  TKUK    STOUIKS   OF    NKW    ICNCI-.WI)    CAP  TIVKS. 


The  bclli'^crcnt  cai)tains  would  have  annihilated  them  at 
onee,  as  their  orders  were  to  sei/,e  all  Indians  eoneerned  in 
the  murder  of  ICnj^lishmen,  or  who  had  violated  the  treaty. 
Waldron  proposed  a  stratagem  instead.  Inviting-  the  Indians 
to  a  sham  liy^ht  the  next  day,  havinj;-  drawn  the  Indians'  fire, 
the  English  soldiers  surrounded  and  disarmed  them.  Wan- 
nalonect  and  the  Fennaeooks  were  sot  free.  The  rest  were 
sent  to  Boston,  where  seven  or  eijj^ht  of  the  well-known  mur- 
derers were  huni^.  and  the  rest  sold  as  slaves  abroad.  It  is 
.'.aid  that  Major  Waldron  was  opposed  to  the  seizure,  but  re- 
garded it  as  a  military  necessity.  It  is  true  that  he  mij^-ht 
have  been  censured  by  his  government  if  he  had  refused  to 
obey  its  orders,  but  a  strictly  honorable  man  would  rather 
have  left  his  case  to  the  judgment  of  posterity,  or  have  thrown 
up  his  commission,  than  to  have  committed  so  gross  a  breach 
of  hospitality  and  faith.  The  Pennacooks  looked  upon  his 
conduct  as  treachery.  It  was  a  time  of  peace.  They  had 
never  broken  faith  with  him.  They  were,  as  it  were,  surety 
for  the  good  behavior  of  Philip's  Indians  and  the  rest.  They 
never  forgave  him. 

Thirteen  years  passed.  vSome  of  those  who  had  been  sold 
into  slavery  came  back.  The  emissaries  of  Castine  whispered 
vengeance.  The  opportvmity  for  retaliation  came  to  the  Pen- 
nacooks, and  a  plot  was  laid  for  the  destruction  of  Dover. 
In  June,  1689,  the  Dover  people  began  to  be  suspicious  that 
the  Indians  were  unfriendly.  Larger  numbers  seemed  to  be 
gathering  in  the  neighborhood  than  usually  came  to  trade. 
Strange  faces  were  noticed  among  them,  and  now  and  then 
they  were  seen  eyeing  the  defenses.  More  than  one  friendly 
squaw  hinted  of  danger  to  the  settlers'  wives  who  had  been 
kind  to  them,  but  they  were  not  heeded.  "Go  plant  your 
pumpkins,"  cried  Waldron  to  those  who  told  him  their  fears, 
"I  know  the  red  skins  better  than  you,  and  I  will  let  you 
know  soon  enough  if  there  are  any  signs  of  an  outbreak." 


fn^rmtf  -«— .r^,.v*^t»,*%*». 


CIIKISTINK   OTIS.  17 


Waldron,  Richard  Otis,  John  Heard,  Peter  Coffin  and  his 
son  Tristram  had  each  a  jji'arrison  house  at  Dover  at  that 
time.  Into  these  their  neighbors  who  felt  uneasy,  retired  to 
sleep.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  June,  a  younj^  man 
rushed  to  Waldron's  house  and  told  him  that  the  town  was 
fiiT  of  Indians,  and  that  the  people  were  thorouj^hly  frij^ht- 
en(  <(  "1  know  the  Indians  well,"  replied  Waldi-on  with  some 
a;perity,  "and  I  tell  you  there  is  no  danger."  That  very 
morning,  however,  the  following  letter  from  Major  Hench- 
man of  Chelmsford  was  received  by  Oov.  Bradstreet  at  Bos- 
ton : 

Junk  23,  1689. 

Honored  Sir : — This  day  two  Indians  came  from  PtMUiacook,  viz., 
|()1)  Maramasfinand  and  Peter  Miiekanuiji;,  who  report  that  damajie 
will  iiiuloiibtedly  be  (hnie  wittiin  a  few  ilays  at  lMscata(|ua,  and  tliat 
Major  Waldron  in  particular  is  threatened.  'I'he  Indians  can  ji;ive 
a  more  particular  account  to  your  Honor.  They  say  if  damage  be 
done,  the  blame  shall  not  be  on  them,  having  given  a  faithful  ac- 
count of  what  they  he;,r,  and  are  upon  that  report  moved  to  leave 
their  habitation  and  c(jver  at  I'ennacook.  1  am  constrained  from  a 
sense  of  my  duty,  and  from  love  to  my  countrymen,  to  give  the  in- 
formation as  above,  so  with  my  humble  service  to  your  Honor,  and 
prayers  for  the  safety  of  an  endangered  people, 

1  am  your  humble  serv't, 

Thos.  Henchman. 

A  mes.senger  was  at  once  dispatched  to  Cocheeo  with  a  let- 
ter from  the  Oovernor  and  Council  "To  Major  Richard  Wal- 
dron, and  Mr.  Peter  Coffin,  or  either  of  them.  These  with 
all  possible  speed." 

The  Governor's  letter  is  dated  June  27th,  1689.  It  informs 
Major  Waldron  of  the  receipt  of  Major  Henchman's  letter 
and  tells  him  that  "  one  Hawkins  is  the  principal  designer  " 
of  the  intended  mischief.  That  it  is  particularly  designed 
against  Waldron  and  Cofftn,  and  that  they  are  to  be  betrayed 


iar.«^ar.'a'»r-»rr, 


l8  TKUH   sroKIKS   OK    NEW    KXCLAND   CAP  TI VKS. 


"on  a  pretention  of  trade."  The  Governor  warns  them  to 
take  "  eare  of  then  own  safeti^uard  "and  to  report  "what  in- 
formation they  may  receive  of  the  Indians'  motions."  Un- 
fortunately the  messen^'er  was  detained  at  Salisbury  ferry 
and  reached  Dover  only  after  the  tragedy  was  over. 

Mesandowit',  an  Indian  chief,  took  supper  at  Waldron's 
house  that  niji^ht,  as  he  had  often  before.  During  supper  he 
said,  half  jestin.<.',ly,  "  vSup})ose  strange  Indians  eome  now, 
Brother  Waldron  ?  "  "I  have  but  to  raise  my  linger,"  replied 
Waldron.  boastfully,  "  and  a  hundred  soldiers  will  be  at  my 
command."  Later  in  the  evening  two  squaws  applied  at  each 
garrison  house  for  leave  tt)  sleep  on  the  hearth  before  the 
kitchen  fire.  As  this  was  no  unusual  request,  it  was  readily 
granted,  and  they  were  shown  how  to  open  the  doors  in  ease 
they  might  want  to  go  out  during  the  night.  Tristram  Cof- 
fin alone  refused  to  admit  them.  As  Waldron  was  barring 
his  doors  for  the  night,  one  of  the  squaws  quartered  with 
him  said  to  him,  "  White  father  big  wampum  ;  much  Indian 
eome."  Still  unsuspicious,  he  retired  to  dream  of  the  mor- 
row's gains. 

Just  before  dawn,  at  that  hour  when  night  is  darkest  and 
sleep  is  heaviest,  the  treacherous  squaws  rose  softly  in  all  the 
houses,  and  opening  the  doors,  gave  a  long,  low  whistle.  A 
dog  at  Heard's  garrison  answered  with  a  furious  barking, 
which  awoke  Elder  Wentworth.  He  hurried  down  stairs. 
The  savages  were  iust  entering.  Pushing  the  oaken  door 
back  against  them,  the  old  man  of  seventy-three  threw  him- 
self on  his  back  and  held  it  against  them  till  help  came.  Bul- 
lets crashed  through  the  door  above  his  head,  but  the  heroic 
old  Puritan  did  not  tiinch  and  the  garrison  was  saved.  Plac- 
ing a  guard  at  Waldron's  door,  the  waspish  horde  swarmed 
into  his  room.  He  sprang  from  his  bed,  and  though  over 
eighty  years  old,  he  drove  them  at  the  point  of  his  sword, 

'Sometimes  written  Mesambowit. 


-iWWf«iawa'iwwftM''ii'^iw-W'»j.^'ii!B>ti'«B»tif«^iai6^ 


CHRISTINE   OTIS.  19 


through  three  or  four  rooms.  As  he  turned  back  for  other 
weapons,  they  followed  him  and  dealt  him  a  blow  with  a 
hatchet,  which  stunned  and  prostrated  him.  With  horrid 
threats,  they  ordered  his  family  to  get  supper  for  them. 
When  they  were  surfeited,  they  placed  the  old  man  in  his 
arm-chair  on  the  table  and  tortured  him.  They  gashed  him 
with  their  knives,  screaming  derisively,  "Now  we  cross  out 
our  accounts."  They  cut  off  his  finger  joints  and  threw  them 
in  his  face,  asking  with  fiendish  glee,  "How  much  will  your 
fist  weigh  now.  Father  Waldron  ?  "  Finally  as  he  fell  faint- 
ing from  his  chair,  they  held  his  own  3word  under  him,  and 
death  came  to  his  relief.  His  daughter  and  his  little  grand- 
cliild,  Sarah  (xerrish,'  were  taken  captive,  his  son-in-law  killed, 
his  house  pillaged  and  burned.  The  houses  of  Peter  Coffin 
and  his  son  were  also  destroyed. 

Richard  Otis,  the  blacksmith  of  Dover,  occupied  the  next 
garrison  house  to  Waldron's.  He  was  of  good  family,  and 
had  removed  from  Boston  to  Dover  in  1656.  At  the  time  of 
the  attack  he  was  well  on  in  years,  had  married  sons,  and 
was  living  with  his  third  wife,  Grizel-  Warren,  a  young  wom- 
an of  less  than  half  his  years.  She  had  borne  him  two  chil- 
dren. Hannah,  the  elder,  was  about  two ;  but  the  delight  of 
her  old  father's  heart,  was  his  three  months  old  baby,  Marga- 
ret, fair  as  a  summer  daisy.  Otis  was  shot  dead  as  he  was 
rising  up  i"i  bed,  or  had  reached  the  window,  seeking  the 
cause  of  the  alarm.  The  s.  .  ages  killed  his  little  daughter 
Hannah,  by  dashing  her  head  against  the  (^^lamber  stairs.  His 
wife  and  baby  were  dragged  from  their  beds,  and  with  more  of 
his  family,  hurried  with  the  other  captives  to  the  woods  to 
begin  the  doleful  march  to  Canada. 

Meantime,  all  unconscious  of  these  horrors,  the  Widow 
Heard  and  her  sons,  with  her  daughter  and  son-in-law,  were 

'For  the  story  of  her  captivity  see  Dralte's  "Tragedies  of  the  Wilderness." 
'•'I  have  often  found  the  name  written  Grizet  and  Grizit. 


20  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


returning  from  a  day's  trading  at  Portsmouth.  The  soft  air 
of  the  vsummer  night  was  heavy  with  the  srent  of  the  sweet 
brier  ;  the  frog  croaked  hoarsely  from  his  solitary  pool ;  an 
owl,  scared  from  his  hunting,  flitted  screeching  to  the  woods. 
No  other  sound  was  heard  save  the  pla.sh  of  their  oars  as  they 
rowed  up  the  pHcid  river,  when  suddenly  on  the  midnight 
stillness,  burst  forth  the  awful  war-whoop.  Faster  they  plied 
their  oars,  not  daring  to  think  of  the  possible  fate  of  kindred 
left  safe  in  the  garrison  at  morn.  Silently  passing  a  body  of 
the  enemy,  they  landed  near  Waldron's  garrison.  Seeing  a 
light  in  a  chamber  window  and  supposing  it  put  there  as  a 
signal  of  refuge  to  the  English,  they  demanded  entrance  at 
the  gate.  No  answer  being  returned,  they  shook  and  pound- 
ed the  palisades,  in  agonized  tones  reproaching  their  friends 
within  for  not  opening  to  them.  At  last  one  of  the  young 
men  looked  through  a  crack  of  the  gate,  and  saw  to  his  hor- 
ror an  Indian  with  his  gun  guarding  Waldron's  door.  De- 
spair seized  them  at  the  sight.  Mrs.  Heard  sank  fainting, 
and  declaring  she  could  go  no  further,  ordered  her  children 
to  leave  her.  After  much  entreaty,  feeling  that  all  would  be 
sacrificed  if  they  remained,  they  left  her  and  proceeded  lo 
their  own  garrison.  On  the  way  they  met  one  of  Otis's  sons, 
who  told  them  that  his  father  was  killed.  John  Ham  and 
his  wife,  Mrs.  Heard's  daughter,  rowed  rapidly  down  the 
river  again,  to  give  the  alarm  at  Portsmouth.  Meantime 
Mrs.  Heard  had  revived  a  little,  and  dragged  herself  to  the 
garden,  hiding  there  among  the  barberry  bushes.  With  the 
approach  of  daylight,  she  fled  to  a  thicket  at  some  distance 
from  the  house.  A  savage  who  had  watched  her,  came  twice 
to  her  hiding  place,  pointed  his  pistol  at  her  and  ran  back 
with  loud  yells  to  the  house,  leaving  her  in  safety.  She  rec- 
ognized him  as  a  young  Indian,  whom  at  the  time  of  the  seiz- 
ure by  Waldron,  she  had  hidden  in  her  own  house  and  aided 
to  escape.     Thanking  God  for  her  preservation,  she  remained 


CHRISTINE    OTIS. 


in  her  covert,  till  the  enemy  had  retired  with  their  captives. 
Then  stealing  along  by  the  river,  she  crossed  it  on  a  boom, 
and  reaching  Gerrish's  garrison,  learned  of  the  brave  defence 
of  her  own  house  by  Elder  Wentworth,  and  of  the  safety  of 
its  inmates. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  John  Ham  and  his  wife, 
spent  with  fatigue  and  anxiety,  reached  Portsmouth.  A  let- 
ter was  at  once  written  by  Richard  Waldron,  Jr.,  still  igno- 
rant of  his  father's  fate,  to  the  Governor  and  Council  in  Bos- 
ton, giving  the  facts  so  far  as  related  by  Ham.  This  letter 
was  enclosed  in  the  following : 

"  To  the  lion.  Maj.  Robert  Pike  of  Salisbury— Haste  post  I/aste : — 

PoRTSMou  JH,  28th  June,  1689. 

Honored  Sir : — We  hcrewitli  send  you  an  account  of  the  Indians 
surprising  Cocheco  tliis  morning  which  we  pray  you  immediately  to 
post  away  to  the  Honorable,  the  Crovernor  and  Council  at  Bos- 
ton, and  forward  our  present  assistance,  wherein  the  whole  country 
is  immediately  concerned. 

We  are  Sir  your  most  humble  servants, 

Richard  Marivn. 
Wii.MAM   Vauchn. 
Richard  Waldron,  Jr. 
Samuf,i,  WEN'r worth. 
Benj.   Hull. 

This  dispatch  was  received  at  noon  by  Maj.  Pike,  who  im- 
mediately forwarded  it  to  Boston  with  the  following : 

^^ To  the  much  Honored  Synian  Bradstreet,  Esq.,  Governor,  and  the 
Honorable  Council  now  sitting  at  Boston,  these  present  with  all 
speed — Haste,  post  Haste" : — 

Salisiuiry,  28th  June,  (about  noon)  1689. 
Much  Honored : — After  due  respect,  these  are  only  to  give  your 
honours  the  sad  accounts  of  the  last  night's  providence  at  Cocheco, 


22  TRUK    STDRIl'IS    OF    NKW    ENGLAND    CAI'TIVES. 


as  by  the  enclosed,  the  particukirs  whereof  are  awful.  The  only 
wise  God,  who  is  the  keeper  that  neither  slunabereth  nor  sleepeth  is 
pleased  to  permit  what  is  done.  I'ossibly  it  may  be  either  better  or 
worse  than  this  account  renders  it.  As  soon  as  I  get  more  intelli- 
gence, I  shall,  ('rod  willing,  speed  it  to  your  honours,  praying  for 
speedy  order  or  advice  in  si)  solemn  a  case.  1  have  dispatched  the 
intelligence  to  other  towns  with  advice  to  look  to  yurselves.  I  shall 
not  be  wanting  to  serve  in  what  1  may.  Should  have  waited  on  your 
honours  now,  had  1  been  well.  Shall  not  now  come  e.xcept  by  you 
commanded,  till  this  bustle  be  abated.  That  the  only  wise  God 
may  direct  all  your  weighty  affairs,  is  the  prayer  of  your  honours' 

most  humble  servant, 

RoHERT  Pike." 

The  post  went  spurring'  into  Boston  at  midnight  with  Pike's 
dispatches,  and  the  next  noon  an  answer  was  returned  to 
Portsmouth  as  follows : 

"  To  Messrs.  Richard  Martyn,   William   Vaughan,  Richard  Waldron, 
&'c. 

Boston,  29th  June,  1689. 

Gentlemen: — The  sad  account  given  by  yurselves  of  the  awful  hand 
of  God  in  permitting  the  heathen  to  make  such  desolations  upon  Co- 

checo  and  destruction  of  the  inhabitants  thereof arrived  the 

last  night  about  twelve  o'clock.  Notice  thereof  was  immediately 
despatched  to  our  out  towns,  and  so  they  may  provide  for  their  se- 
curity  The  narrative  you  give was  laid  before  the 

whole  Convention  this  morning,  who  are  concerned  for  you  as  friends 
and  neighbors,  and  look  at  the  whole  to  be  involved  in  this  unhappy 
conjuncture  and  trouble  given  by  the  heathen  and  are  very  ready  to 
yield  you  all  assistance  as  they  may  be  capable  and  do  think  it  nec- 
essary that  (if  it  be  not  done  already)  you  shall  fall  into  some  form 

for  the  exercise  of  government  so  far  as  may  be  necessary 

for  your  safety this  Convention  not  thinking  to  meet  under 

their  present  circumstances  to  exert  any  authority  within  your  Prov- 
ince. Praying  God  to  direct  in  all  the  arduous  affairs  the  poor  peo- 
ple of  this  country  have  at  present  to  engage  in,  and  to  rebuke  all 


CIIRISTINIO   oijs 

23 


Vour  humble  servant, 

i'er  order  of  r        ^'''^'''''  '^'"^'ngton,  Sec'y. 
AiM  ,  .  "-'  "™^'  of  (convention."  "^ 

Aid  was  at  once  sen  t  in  p,x^i 

^z.?;- ////.«.;.,„,  ^„„^._      ,j,X"'"7"'  5'h  July,  .6J9.  ' 

""  """  ''"'-en  f„„y  .„„  fifty  l;,::^^^//-''"^  Major  Ap^le- 
.".compan.ecl  by  Major  Pike   imdTe        f        '""'"'>••"■'■''"=<' here 

ti.e  one„,y  ab,  twelve  mile.    „  "n£  T,     .''  """""^  "P""  '"ck  of 
-turned  in  ye  evening  witl„,„t  "ny  f"  ; '  T'"^  "'^>'<^<»'H  but 
body  of  one  of  ,|,e  captive  n,e„    tZv    ,        ,  ,'"'°^'='"^  '^"^  J"=  ''^ad 
"'■•»  ■•'"y  "f  the  enen,y  been  Te'e ,     'r™"  "'""  ""'  ^"'^  at  last 

Vour  most  humble  servants, 


William  Vaughan. 
Richard  Waldeon." 


While  these  thino-s  wer^  t.         ■  ■     '*'™""  Waldeon." 
their  hapless  pn.oSJZ:Z"Z"y:''''  ''^'"^''  ^^  -d 
the  morninj,  of  the  attack,  a  party  of?    T^""'  ^''"^'^^-    «" 
■n  pursuit,  but,  as  usual,  tLe  eneTw  h.Tr '°,"""^'"'«dout 
The  Cocheco  party  ovei^toot  „       '^  >^^  divided  their  forces 
-teeeeded  i„  reeo';e~„::  ^tl'^T  '"''  Conway,  aTd 
daughters.     When  the  re«  oT?!    ?     *>  """"  three  of  Otis's 

do  not  .now.  o„  tLi^  rrXa'^'ry 'r'"'"'' '^^^''^  - 
taken  from  her  savage  eaotorli '  \7^  ^^'-"-ffaret  was  at  once 
«nd  under  the  name^of  Xl'i''  ^"'''''  ''^P"^^^  anew! 
real  to  be  reared  in  the  fai  h  of    he' r"  '°  1"'  ""»^  «'  Mont- 


mm 


24  TRUE   STORIKS   OK    NKW    KXCI.AND   CAI' TIVKS. 

Montreal  in  the  serviee  of  Monsieur  Mariconi."  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  little  girl  spent  most  of  her  ehildhood  with  the 
good  nuns  of  Montreal,  in  the  very  heart  of  that  religious 
eommunity  founded  by  Maisonneuve  and  his  followers.  vShe 
would  have  been  fifteen  years  old  when  the  Deerfield  eaptives 
were  earried  to  Montreal.  As  in  lier  eoarse  serge  gown,  she 
passed  with  the  nuns  in  and  out  of  the  old  eathedral,  good 
Mr.  Williams  may  have  seen  her,  and  groaned  in  spirit  at 
the  sight.  vShe  must  have  been  a  girl  of  strong  eharaeter, 
for  she  absolutely  refused  to  take  the  veil,  though  persistent- 
ly urged  to  it  by  priest  and  nun.  As  the  next  safest  thing 
for  the  interests  of  the  ehureh,  they  married  her  at  sixteen  to 
a  Frenchman  of  Montreal,  named  Le  Beau.  The  following, 
translated  from  the  parish  records  of  Montreal,  bears  the  au- 
tographs of  the  newly  wedded  pair,  and  of  the  bride's  friend, 
Marie  Joseph  Sayer' : 

"On  the  14th  clay  of  June,  of  the  year  1707,  after  publishing  one 
ban,  and  dispensing  with  the  other  two  by  pernnssion  from  M. 
Frangois  Vachon  de  Belmont,  (irand  \'icar  of  iMonseigncur,  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  I,  the  undersigned  priest,  ofificiatiMg  as  curate  of 
the  parish  of  Ville-Marie,  having  obtained  the  mutual  consent  of 
Louis  Le  Bau,  aged  twenty-nine  years,  son  of  Jean  Le  Ban  and 
Etiennette  Lore,  inhabitants  of  the  parish  of  Boucherville  in  this 
I^iocese,  of  the  one  part,  and  of  Christinne  Otesse,  aged  eighteen 
years,  daughter  of  the  defunct  Richard  hautesse-  and  Marie  Made- 
leine la  garenne''  of  the  town  of  Douvres',  in  old  England,  now  liv- 
ing in  this  parish,  of  the  other  part, — having  married  them  accord- 
ing to  the  rites  of  our  Holy  Mother  Church,  in  presence  of  the  said 
Jean  Bau,  father  of  the  bridegroom,  of  the  Sieur  Dominiqua  'I'hau- 
mur  Surgeon,  of  Philippe  Robitail  Master  cooper,  father-in-law  of 
the  said  bride.  The  aforesaid  Jean  Bau  and  Robitail  have  declared 
that  they  could  not  sign  this  certificate  according  to  the  ordinance." 

Christine's  husband  may  have  entertained  her  with  the  story 

'See  "Story  of  a  York  Family."  ^Otis.  •'Warren.  'Dover. 


CIIRISTIXK   OTjs. 


-J  having  been  .au^lTCthJZ^  "''"''' '''"^'^'^' 

'""■ned  .-it  the  stake  had  h,.  „  V  ""'  '"'"'''  h-We  been 

-«'  'icd  to  the  hott^e ;  'a  1.;:;  ,t™ '"''  'r™  ''■^ '°™""-" 

The  Governor  had  orcilred  ,  '  '  """"  '■'•'n»°™ed  him. 
imi^ri.soned  for  four  months  '-.T-  """  ,',"■ '""""  """^  '■'''«<-'ly 
■nay  liave  .said.  ••y>,„„."  ','"". '""f'' '"'"  right,"  Le  Beau 
for  the  story  of  Baker^  nd^nf:  '  ''""'''"P^  ^''"■'«"ne  sighed, 
of  her  own  eaptivi.;  a Vd l t^m  T,""''  '-'^  ^'^'  '-^thi 'king 
go  baek  to  New  England  „' ."'7  "  ^""hod  that  she  eonid 
■she  was  born.    ThesI  Z  ''"' '''"''  •*«  "'^  spot  where 

Christine  .-eeoneOedToSrhr^'r:  '^'IT^  '"■^P""^'^'  '-^ 
children.     We  hear  no  mom  of  h  ■ ''  "^  ^""'  "™  ">■■«<= 

jor  .Stoddard  at  llontrea  ""'"  "''^  ""^'l  of  Ma- 


^"r  th  jtix:::;:  i^riinir '^r  -^^^  ■-'  -p^^'"™ 

were  still  held  in  Canada    m^t     "  "''™>'  '""■'e  Engli.sh 
eldest  danghterof   ,:ti":::f :""  '''"'"-  William.,' the 
J"  November,  .7.3.  eomm^^^ner:  w    e't    '     ^'^'"^'''"^^y 
IJudley  to  Canada  to  ne<n,tiiteth,.^-        ?"""  «<="'  by  Gov. 
the  other  xVew  EnglanI  eamivt  '^'^,^^™P"°"  "f  Euniee  and 
■nission.  was  CaptaTn  John  CT'   ,1  l''"  '^'^'''^  °^  '^e  eom- 
the  tninister  of  t'hat  pC    M  '^1  ,?'  Northampton,  son  of 
Martm  Kellogg,  one  of  the  Deet^I         I-'  "'-''••°»Panicd  him. 
e-seaped   with    Baker    from    M     ,     ?P'""''' "''° ''''«i  finally 
Ti>ere  were  three  otL      tTemLms": f    T"'  ""'  '"'^■'P-'- 
hnnself.    Both  Kellogg  and  he    id  f       °'"  ™'=  ^-^  ^^k^f 
-nee  their  flight  from  M^tr^al      Hr°"'<"°"'  ^"'^"='^^^ 
liaker  now.    The  year  before  he  h    ,  ''^P'''''"  Thomas 

ont  river  with  a  seouting  p^  crold'""'  ""  "^  ''^°""-«- 
was.set,  and  at  its  eonfJuonce  wL  ^  •°'''"' '°  ""=  Peraige. 
oalled  Baker's  river,-he  had^  n  T ?,°' f  'ribntaries-sifee 
'anummon,  without'  the  loL    „;"1,  '^  ^^"°— >-m,  Wat- 

a  man.    lakmg  as  much  of 


26  TRUE   SToKIliS   OF   NEW    ENCLANI)   CM'TIVES. 

the  vSachem's  beaver  as  the  party  could  carry,  he  burned  the 
rest  and  went  down  the  Merrimac  to  Dunstable,  and  thence 
to  Boston.  The  Council  Records  of  the  8th  of  May,  give 
h^'s  report  of  his  proceedings  and  his  application  for  scalp 
money.  He  produced  but  one  scalp  but  prayed  "  for  a  further 
allowance  for  more  killed  than  they  could  recover  their  scalps 
as  reported  by  the  enemy  themselves."  After  some  delay 
the  (jcneral  Court,  willing  to  encourage  and  reward  such 
bravery  and  enterprise  as  Baker  had  shown,  allowed  him  and 
his  company  twenty  pounds,  "  for  one  enemy  Indian  besides 
that  which  they  scalped,  which  seems  very  probable  to  be 
slain."  On  the  i6th  of  February,  1714,  the  commissioners 
reached  Quebec.  We  have  the  record  of  their  negotiations 
with  the  governor  of  Canada.  De  Vaudrc  nil  assures  them 
that  all  the  captives  are  at  liberty  to  go  home ;  the  more,  the 
better,  for  him  and  his  country ;  and  his  blc^'-'ing  shall  go 
with  them.  He  gives  the  ambassadors  permission  to  mingle 
unrestrained  with  the  English,  and  to  have  free  speech  with 
those  in  religious  houses.  Learning  that  the  priests  and 
some  of  the  laity  are  terrifying  and  threatening  the  prisoners 
against  returning,  the  commissioners  complain  to  the  Gover- 
nor, who  replies  that  he  "  can  as  easily  alter  the  course  of  the 
waters  as  prevent  the  priests'  endeavors."  Finally,  under  the 
pretext  that  the  captives  have  been  naturalized  by  the  King, 
he  refuses  to  let  any  return  except  those  under  age.  Dis- 
couraged by  this  unexpected  obstacle,  and  in  order  to  be 
nearer  the  captives,  the  Commissioners  return  to  Montreal, 
arriving  there  on  the  3rd  of  March,  17 14. 

ChrivStine's  husband  had  died  a  few  months  before.  The 
young  widow  had  doubtless  heard  of  the  presence  of  the 
ambassadors  in  the  city,  as  they  passed  through  to  Quebec, 
and  all  her  old  longing  for  release  returned  upon  her. 
While  the  naturalization  question  is  pending,  Mr.  Williams, 
whose  heart  is  occupied  with  Eunice's  affairs,  demands  that 


CIIRISTINK    OTIS.  27 


"  men  and  women  shall  not  be  entan<^lcd  by  the  marriages 
they  may  have  eontracted,  nor  parents  by  cliildren  born  to 
them  in  eaptivity."  Christine  sees  here  her  ehanee.  We  may 
assume  that  she  seeks  an  interview  with  the  eommissioners 
and  tells  them  her  wishes.  Brave  Captain  Baker,  a  bachelor 
of  thirty-two,  is  smitten  with  the  eharms  of  the  youthful 
widow.  He  undertakes  her  cause.  The  Governor  eunnin<(ly 
concedes  that  French  women  may  return  with  their  Enj^lish 
husbands, — that  English  women  shall  not  be  compelled  to 
stay  by  their  French  husbands, — -but  about  the  children  he 
"  will  take  time  to  consider."  Christine  now  reciprocatinj^ 
the  passion  of  her  lover  becomes  doubly  anxious  to  return. 
The  Intendant  and  the  Governor  violently  oppose  her.  By 
order  of  the  former,  the  property  of  her  deceased  husband 
is  sold,  and  the  money  is  withheld  from  her.  The  priests 
bring  their  authority  to  bear  upon  her.  "  If  you  persist  in 
going,"  they  say,  "  you  shall  not  have  your  children  ;  they 
must  be  nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  the  Holy  church."  Her 
mother  by  turns  coaxes,  chides  and  tries  to  frighten  her  from 
her  resolution.  "  What  can  you  do  in  New  England? "  she 
says  to  her.  "  There  are  no  bake  shops  there.  You  know 
nothing  about  making  bread  or  butter,  or  managing  as  they 
do  there."  All  this  Christine  confides  to  her  lover,  who  kisses 
away  her  tears  and  calms  her  fears.  If  she  will  but  trust  to 
him,  and  go  with  him,  he  tells  her,  his  mother  shall  teach 
her  all  she  need  to  know,  and  his  government  will  see  to  it 
that  her  children  are  restored  to  her.  In  the  midst  of  his 
wooing.  Captain  Baker  is  sent  back  to  Boston  by  vStoddard  to 
report  progress,  and  demand  instructions.  He  was  too  good 
a  soldier  not  to  obey  orders,  though  he  would,  doubtless,  have 
preferred  to  make  a  short  cut  through  the  difficulties,  by 
running  off  the  prisoners  and  taking  the  risk  of  re-capture. 
In  his  absence  Christine  secretly  conveys  her  personal  effects 
on  board  a  barque  bound  for  Quebec,  intending  to  follow. 


:^Ti 


wwk: 


immsm 


2S 


TRUK    STOKIKS    OK    \K\V    KXCI.AND    CAI'l'IVKS, 


and  put  herself  under  the  protection  of  vStoddard  and  his 
party  who  have  returned  thither  and  are  trying  toet)lleet  the 
captives  there.  The  Inlendant  orders  Christine's  ji^oods 
ashore,  and  forbids  her  to  leave  Montreal.  In  vain  the  Com- 
missioners protest.  "  vShe  is  a  prisoner  of  the  former  war," 
replies  the  Intendant,  "  and  cannot  be  claimed  by  the  IDnjji'lish 
under  the  present  Articles  of  Peace."  ihit  "  Love  lau,i;hs  at 
locksmiths,  "  and  when  Captain  Ikiker  returns  from  his 
embassy  and  tells  her  that  the  yood  brij^antinc  Leopard  is 
probably  then  lyinj>-  at  Ouebee,  and  that  she  must  ^o  with 
him,  now  or  never,  she  docs  not  hesitate.  We  have  no  record 
of  her  Hitting,  except  the  pithy  sentence  in  Stoddard's  Journal 
announcing  Capt.  Baker's  return  from  New  Enj^land,  "brinjjf- 
ing  with  him  one  English  prisoner  from  Montreal."  We 
cannot  doubt  that  this  one  is  Christine. 

The  anger  of  the  Intendant,  when  he  learned  of  her  diso- 
bedience and  escape,  may  be  better  imagined  than  described. 
De  Vaudreuil  used  his  most  politic  endeavors  to  get  posses- 
sion of  her  again,  promising  if  she  might  be  returned  to 
Montreal,  he  would  send  her  under  escort  by  land  to  New 
England.  Stoddard  knowing  the  value  of  "  A  bird  in  the 
hand,"  refused  to  give  her  up.  The  Governor  finally  threat- 
ened if  vShe  went,  to  give  her  children  to  the  Ursuline  sisters 
and  never  let  her  see  them  again.  But  her  lover  triumphed, 
and  she  embarked  with  him  for  Boston,  where  they  arrived 
on  the  2ist  of  September,  17 14. 

On  the  Brookfield  land  records,  Dec.  9th,  of  the  s."-  >  year, 
there  is  a  grant  of  '"upland  and  meadow"  to  "  ]!  .argarett 
Otice,  alias  Le  Bue,  one  that  was  a  prisoner  in  Canada  and 
lately  came  from  thence,  provided  she  returns  not  to  live  in 
Canada,  but  tarries  in  this  province  and  marries  to  Captain 
Thomas  Baker."  Christine  tarried  and  married.  The  ad- 
vent of  Captain  Baker,  with  his  foreign  wife  and  her  strange 
speech,  and  her  Romish  observances,  must  have  made  quite 


en  U  IS  TIN  K    oils. 


29 

eve,-,  an<i  s,c,;c  ;.';;;  ';■"  "r-  ^" '""" '"  "■"■"•  ""«- 

will,  l.cr,,n.nn,      1:  ,/;■''''•  ''"""  '■'•■I'^'I'U^^c.l  by  |,i„, 

chiki  by  Thorn'  ;r,  ,•■';■«■■;'"'■  '"''^  '"■"'  -f  i--  i-st 

Thomas  a„,l  Man-arct "  '  '"""''  "'"^■"■'  ''•"'"'■'"■ '" 

possession  of  ;::jm  1  :^'i  ',!'■;•'"  ""•  '^r  -^  «-^'"'"« 

won,  .,„,,  she  was  aepriv";i  oft       /^X;"'   T',  .'^,^'"  '"'^ 
tain  Baker  was  the  fir^t  P,.,.,  .  .     ^^^rexci.     m  ,;,f^^  (j. 

b.aspho„,y,  on  the  tiic^n^^.h;,;;  "';';Vt"'''r«'^-'''  ^"■- 

coiirseof  (WshavitKrin  IT-         '".^'-       -^^1^1^'   ^t'lno-  a  dis- 

SuHt'ijt:::^^^:::!:^--™-'""---" 

ffiiilty."     The  snni,.  v,..Vn,       .  ""-'  ■'"''>'  "■•''»    "Not 

nest  /ette,.  f n».  Mo  s  i  ,^::;;:  "ir  .tt'^''  '■' '"'"»' '-""'  -^■ 

had  been  her  former  conf,  s^.M  *"='"'"''"">'  Pri«»t,  who 
turn  to  Canada  an^toThe  to  [l  / ^^ ''  ^OitT''- 
of  eourse  in  French   nnri  ",     -.^      ^i^Lucn.     1  lie  letter  being- 

legible  hand;.  ::^„^:::^i:-^';f  r  ■^^■"-•' 

order  to  get  some  person  to  an^er    t '  i^  o  de'r  to  ""'"' '" 
the  priest  of  the  folly  of  anv  fnrth.,-  ;,V        .  convince 

The  letter  eame  to  the  noH,  /  f  attempts  to  eouvert  her. 


IHIIIMIilu. 


aaPs^siWF 


30  TKLIl':   sroiUKS   OK   NKW    KN(U.ANI)   CAl' IIVKS. 

whilst yon  liad  the  happiness  of  makiiiji;  one  of  the  family  of 

Jesus,  Maria,  Joseph,  Joailiini  and  Anne, and  tha..  you,  as  well 

as  Madame  Kohitail  your  mother,  (whose  confessor  1   liave  become, 

)  were  of  the  Nund)er  of  about  I'wo  llundretj  Women  of  the  best 

fashion  of  Ville  Marie,  who  then  made  up  the  mystical  IJody  of  that 
holy  Association.  1  own  also  that  all  our  Members  of  the  Seminary, as 
well  as  all  Mount  Keal,  were  edified  with  your  Carriajj^e,  you  being  so- 
ber.and  living  as  a  true  Christian  and  jjood  C!atholic  having  no  remains 
of  the  unhap|)>'  l-eaven  of  the  irreligion  .ind  errors  of  the  I'aiglish  out 
of  which  M.  Meriel  had  brought  you  as  well  as  your  Mother,  taking 
you  out  of  the  deep  darkness  of  Heresy  to  bring  you  into  the  Light 

of  the  only  true  ("luirch  and  the  only  Spouse  of  Jesus  Christ." 

" 'I'he  Catholic  Chundi  is  the  only  mystical  Ark  of  Noah  in  which 
Salvation  is  found.  All  liiose  who  are  gone  out  of  it,  and  will  not 
return  to  it,  will  unhappily  perish,  not  in  a  deluge  of  Waters,  but  ir. 
the  I'Ueriial  I'lames  of  the  last  Judgment Who  has  so  far  be- 
witched and  blinilcd  you  as  to  make  you  leave  the  Light  and  Truth, 
to  carry  you  amongst  the  English  where  there  is  nothing  but  Darkness 
and  hTeligion?"  The  priest  goes  on  to  appeal  to  her  conscience, 
and  to  her  love  for  her  chiklren  in  ('anada,  as  incentives  to  her  re- 
turn. "  Dear  Christine,"  he  says,  "  poor  stray  Sheep,  come  back  to 
your  Heavenly  Father," own  yourself  guilty to  have  for- 
saken the  Lord,  the  only  Spring  of  the  healing  Waters  of  (Jrace,to  run 

after  private  Cisterns  which  cannot  give  them  to  you hearken 

to  the  stings  of  your  Conscience Read  the  two  Letters  I  send 

you  concerningthe  happy  and  Christian  Death  of  your  Daughter; 

weigh  with  care  the  i)articular  Circumstances  by  which  she  owns 
herself  infinitely  indebted  to  the  Mercy  of  (iod,  and  the  watchful- 
ness of  her  Grandirother  for  having  withstood  her  Voyage  to  New 
England,  and  not  suffered  her  to  follow  you  thither.  Consider  with 
what  inward  peace  she  received  all  her  Sacraments  and  with  what 
tranquility  she  Died  in  the  Bosom  of  the  Church.  1  had  been  her 
Confessor  for  many  Years  before  her  Marriage,  and  going  to  Quebec 
where  she  lived  with  her  Husband  peaceably  and  to  the  Edification 
of  all  the  Town.  Oh!  happy  Death!  my  dear  Christine,  would  you 
Die  like  heras predestinated;  come  in  all  haste,  and  abjure  your  Apos- 


CIIKISTINK   OTJs. 


31 


Holy  HuMd/w  i ;  '  ir:^: "",'.'" """  """-'•■'^"'«-  ■n-^ 

Arn,s,  as  ,vdl  .s  Mr'      .  u         f  ,^':";  ;"'""  "^r'™  ^""  "  '"'  ""- 
not  want  I!r,iad  here    ■„„  "'  >"""■  """'"•     V""  "I'^^H 

r.n,i  i.>,  so,„e  in  .;,::.:::;:;;:;'"';:;;''■;- '•••'"<'.  -  s„a,, 

any,  a,„,  „aCh  a  Tnuie,  „o  shall  ;,,.  ;:V'"';:;"  l'"*^ 

await  your  answer  to  my  letter  and   S  /.•''' ^ 

yours  in  Jesus  and  Marie  '  '''"    '''""'•'^''"^'    ^'■^^'■'•''■ly 

iV^t  of  tl.  Seminary  at  ViHe-Marie.  you  know  n.e  .::;::r' 
AtVdle-Mane,  thesthofjune,  ,727." 


Gov.  Burnet  begins  his  reply  as  follows 


1^   f  r  Boston,  Jan.  8,  1728-0 

MaJa,n..-l  am  very  sensible  of  the  Disadvanfi^es  I  III        ,      • 

not  be.ng  able  to  address  myself  to  you  unde         5  "''''  '" 

as  that  whieh  Mr.  Segueuot'take     to   hi  j L'Td'"?/  "^^ 

I)ut  your  eood  sensp  will  ,.„,  '"inseit.     iiut  I  don't  doubt 

ing  evpres^siol  vhkirl  '""  '";  '"'"  «'""'  "«'""«  ""^h  "»«<='■- 

Arguments'  -m    '""'"""''y ^''^  "^^  "^  <"'  -'"'  "f  Soo.l 

'-'--'-et/^::;:r„ra.-:'rti:-:::::;::;i- 

The  Governor  then  proceeds  with  calmness  to  refute  the 


yg^ggi 


B55P 


32  IRIIK    SIOKIKS    OK    NKW    KXCl.AXI )    t'AI'l'l  VKS. 


le 

1 


priest's  assertions  and  expose  his  speeious  arguments.  II 
shows  Ciiristine  how  Christ  j;-ives  "visil)le  marks"  l)v  whie 
his  true  followers  may  be  known.  "By  tliis  shall  ye  know 
that  yc  are  my  diseiples  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another," 
"whieh,"  says  (Governor  Ihirnet,  "ean  never  aj^'ree  to  a  perse- 
entin^L;'  ehnreh,  as  the  Roman  is."  lie  jioints  her  to  Paul's 
deseription  of  false  Christians  in  the  ICpistle  to  Timothy, 
"Of  this  sort  are  the\'  whieh  ereep  into  houses  and  k>ad  ea[)- 
tive  silly  women  ;  "  and  asks,  "Would  not  anybody  sav  that 
the  Apostle  points  direetly  to  those  ''  )nfess()rs  who  ])retend 
to  direet  the  Conseienees  of  the  Ig-norant  and  ehielly  of  Wom- 
en in  the  Church  of  Rome?  " 

Alludinj^  to  the  priest's  oJfer  of  lands  and  work  to  Captain 
IJaker,  the  (iovernor  says,  "It  is  hoped  that  Mr.  Seoiienot 
does  this  out  of  i<^noranee.  Hut  for  Persons  that  know  what 
it  is  to  live  in  a  free  Country,  to  "^d  and  throw  themselves 
headlon<>;  into  the  Clutches  of  an  absolute  (lovernment,  it  can- 
not be  ima^^'ined  that  they  can  do  such  a  thin_i;-,  unless  they 
have  lost  their  Senses."  lie  concludes  by  tellinj;-  her  to  send 
this  letter  to  Can;ida  and  let  it  be  answered,  that  she  may  see 
both  sides,  and  "I'ix  on  what  is  l)est  for  the  salvation  of  your 
soul  and  the  Happiness  of  your  Life,  which  is  the  hearty  de- 
sire, Madam  of  your  unknown  but  humble  servant."  The 
(lovernor's  letter,  which  was  in  French,  to<^ether  with  that 
of  the  priest,  was  afterwards  translated  and  printed  in  Bos- 
ton. 

Pjy  the  sale  of  their  lU'ookiield  property  to  a  speculator  in 
1732,  Captain  Baker  and  his  wife  became  impoveris':.  1. 
They  lived  for  awhile  at  Mendon,  Mass.,  where  we  (ind  Chris- 
tine connected  with  the  church, — and  were  for  a  short  time 
at  Newport,  R.  1.,  and  finally  removed  to  Dover,  X.  11.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  year  1734,  Baker's  health  j^ave  out  en- 
tirely, and  the  next  year  his  wife  applied  to  the  Legislature 
for  leave  to  keep  a  tavern  for  the  support  of  her  family. 


■VJl^HHIfJ^l?;^^-^^^  ■',  **^"" 


'l",ii:^i^m^^ ., 


(MklsriM.;    oils. 


33 


■'-'t^i::;!::f;r;;:;.;:-,;;[f  "■;-.-;'  ;vas  .a,H ,„  ,„  ,„. 

'"'"'"y-  A,K,  „. . .,.,.',"" "; "";,''""»" -iKTsciti,,;, ..,„„ 

'-'-•■■'i™  ...  s.. ,„',;:   '"f  ••'"''  »'-  l-l  "  ve,-y  ,;.,,t 

'I«^  i.a..anl  and  UaiJ,  ,1"  ';'"■,  ""^-■.  »"'■  '!'<'  -"I.r.atc 

I'"  l"ss«  arc  irchl,!,..,   „„'■''  '",'  '     '"  ""  '"  '"'"  '  -'  'I''-' 

"f  .'.-i,l.,-al,k:  part  ,f     ,.    v  'i      ^  'f  ""»■""«  I"  i'  :  Her,,,,,,.  „,..  ,,„s 

-y  i"  ou,a„a.  a„„  u  ,;*',, '  T"!' r'Tr '"  '"■■■ ''-'  '""■- 

I'-tii  iiiis  ,,„„f,„.i  ,i„^.^.  1,*^:   •  '•"-  "f  i'---  ch.i.i,-,,,.  i-,i  s.iii  si,.. 

' "<-  Ai,„i,.„tv  ,;,„i.     A,    „':'"■'"■""  '^'"  """^'  "-"■'">■ 

'    "'••''le  her  a  present  of  Vo  •'^^;';">'y  .,f  that  (^ovcnuncnt 

-eoryo.M>etitione,-(ex:U.-:';;  :^;;:,''^;^^^^^^^ 

t"  <1'>  witi,  it.)     No,v   your  IVtifinn  .  ""       '  '''^'■'"-  anything- 

'^"^  ^^  '<>t  <'f  land  and  1  ui     -   I  7  ''".  '"''^  ^"^  '^•■^^''   ''-'  "as 

'><'vcr  Meeting.  Il.n.se  tCo             7  ""  ''''  "^"^'-^  '^'^'-^'^  f-- 

ellers,  .Vc"  '    '''^'"'^  '^*"-   ''a.tcrtainn.cnt  of  Trav- 


34 


TUUK^K,,,   ,„..  „,„    ,^,^,^^._^   ^,^^,__^^^^^ 


applied  to  the  Courts  for  a  licence  ^'^^^  '^'^f  ^^  ^roval,  had 
pohtieal  reasons,  refused  it  to  her "  ,n^  '  ^"  ^^"''  ^'''^''^'^y  f"^' 
the  former  inn-keeper.  '  ^^  '^^"^^^^  ^^^  license  to 

The  Legislature  on  hearincr  pi..-  .•     . 

ment  at  Dover^for  many  ;eat'     Hi! 'l"'  f""f  °' »'-'-- 
lethargy"  at  Roxbury  in  lyT'u:,  ^"'^'""^  '^^"'^  «f  "the 

there.    Her  mother.  Madame  R^i!  °?, ''  T""  '°  '^'""'=  »»«"« 
age  of  ninety,  being  beSe^th   T  f'  ^""^ '"  ^'•'"="^='»'  ">« 

Christine  or  Margaret  OtLl       1  ^"''"•'^  "^  •>«■•  ««• 
on  Feb.  .,3,  ,7,3,  leav  ngalLe  n    ,       ""'^  ^''  ^^"'^"1  «« 
her  obituary,  ■..•;  good^reputfti,  „  T"'^'     "'""'  "^«'>"  '^''J- 
try,  prudence  and  eeonomy     Seb     ^"^  "  P""""  "'  '""<«- 
much  patience,  and  met  death  wUhrimnlfi"'''  """"  """ 


MMaiMiiai 


in^HMimiMv^MHwvMBW* 


m  V'  wniiiin  t»m 


ESTHER     WHEELWRIGHT. 


In  the  first  part  of  the  decade  immediately  preceding  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  two  lads  from  the  middle  class  of 
society,  entered  Sydney  College  at  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge. Of  these,  the  elder,  John  Wheelwright,  was  born  on 
the  Lincolnshire  fens,  not  far  from  old  Boston.  His  fellow 
student,  Oliver  Cromwell,  first  saw  the  light  at  Huntingdon. 

While  we  have  no  record  that  either  of  these  youths  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  his  college  studies,  we  have  no  scant 
testimony  to  the  excellence  of  both  in  athletic  sports.  Cot- 
ton Mather  says,  that  he  had  heard  that  "when  Wheelwright 
was  a  young  spark  at  the  University,  he  was  noted  for  a  more 
than  ordinary  stroke  at  wrestling."  Cromwell's  biographer 
declares,  that  at  Cambridge  he  was  far  "more  famous  for 
football,  cudgelling  and  wrestling  than  for  study." 

Judge  Bell,  in  his  memoir  of  Wheelwright,  quotes  the  Lord 
Protector  himself,  as  being  reported  to  have  said,  "I  remem- 
ber the  time  when  I  was  more  afraid  of  meeting  Wheelwright 
at  football,  than  I  have  been  since  of  meeting  an  army  in  the 
field,  for  I  was  infallibly  sure  of  being  tripped  up  by  him." 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  these  pugnacious  young 
athletes  would  have  no  convictions,  or  would  prudently  re- 
frain from  expressing  their  sentiments  on  subjects,  that  were 
at  that  time  rending  the  political  and  religious  world.  As 
vicar  of  th'^  little  hamlet  of  Bilsby  in  Lincolnshire,  John 


■itCimii»Mimt»nm 


3rt 


™"^":':^!!i:::--vK.„,.„,,„„,,,^^^ 


Wheel wrio-ht   hemm^  " — ~""^ — — 

;•'">•  follow..!  „,a„y  of  Z:  r     "'  "5,33.  VVheehvrifflu  „at.,r 

was  warmly  welcomed  by  iis  w     ?''',    'T  '"■  "^^^     Here1,e 
mson.and  by  Re^.   Toh,w!'7"^''f'"-"">er,  William  Hntch 

.Soon  admitted  to  the  cb„r,i,  ■    „        "'''"  ''^'ened. 
P"ritan  divine  beea me  ^th  ,  /"  ''°''°"'  "'^  '^"'■''■•"t  yo„„„ 
n.a„y  wi.shed  bim  to  be' t  i^ /:;:;^'';-;'h  '1-  peopl^  Z 
Cotton  as  second  teacher  of    be  ch,      f"' ^'■'■'""  ""d  Mr, 
favored  the  plan,  but  Wilson  all       '■'''?, '"  ^°''""-     Cotton 
''«  .ground  that  ^Vheelwri   ht  to  a  o    .'      '^^  "P"''''''  '^'  »" 
'«l'S.ous  opinions  of  his  sifter      Us'"  "•"'""'■  ^''■•'■•«I  'he 
was  therefore  .Iceided  that  Wh  '         '  f "™  """-'hinson.     l° 
of  a  new  ehnrch  to  be  gatheJerb  "';'^''' "''°"'''  "'■'™  '^har./e 

I'>om   this  time  on    u  '    ,'         ?'■"  '"  ""'^  Ouincy.^     '^ 

wagred  fiercely.     i„  Ma'rc     .s^    Toh    w,*"""'''"   controversy 

'"  ^■;'™««  Fast  Day  Ser„,n  [iV"t,T'f""'"^""P^'='-'^'''ed 

he  General  Court,  i,  answ"  '  t  " V"','"  '"''  arraig„„,ent  by 

,7"'empt.     In  t,,g  .j,,,.  ^^'        the  charge  of  sedition  and 

that  he  had  not  forgotten     ,"'""'  ^^'''■'-'='w.-ight  showed 
at  wrestling, ■■  f„,,  „,r,^,;-''«      more  than  ordinary  ,.rol^f 

At  length  the  .Synod  assemw  V         '''''"  ''""""■•<• 

'«!7,  declared,  that  ei.  htT  wo  '■"  Newtown,'  A„g„«t  ,o 

pant,  and  making  sad  h  vo,  "'"''"  "'  '^'"^^""'^  we?e  ram 

was  theviewhaltx,  fo      ;^'"""?/"-=  P»ritan  flocks,      '^^ 

°  -t  about  bunting  do  ™  t      'he,:,'"''':'  ^'""■■'  ^^  waiti  g 

they  were  in  at  the  death  ""■''  "'"'ves,--and  so.n, 

In  November,  Wheelwright  w-s  ,1    r        . 
S'o-  o,  s,„,„  .„  „,,,,,      --  M-y  ..mchi„,„„.    „,  „,^,  ,^„^  ^^^^  ^^^ 

Hra.n.recorMi,  W„llas,„„, 
■'Cambridge. 


'**9Vpn^ff^MtolbSSliAn9i&^te«{ 


icy^y-..- 


KSTliEk    WHEKLWRIciiT 

37 


he  .sh„„kl  not  preach  a^,t;„.,-  '■"'''"'  '"■'""""""■  "'at 

Wheelwriglu  gave  a  s^t^n'^j^fj;'"  ^''y  '"  ^'---'husetts, 
It  was  a  bitter  winter.     Bevonrl  fl„.  Ar      • 

his  Ma.s,,ael„,sett.s'  friend,  [tiT  '",""  ^'"""'  "^^  ■'^'^™">  "f 
cleared,  a  cl„,rej,  g„t  ,",ed  ^J"""^'"!"''-  '"'I'^'  '•"  '  ™.s 
ment  agreed    upon  ^^  and  all  ''""''■"■""«  f'"'  -elf         ern- 

elaim  of  Ma.ssaeh„s;ttTto  Z  T  P'-"«Perou.s,  when  the 

'he  desire  of  some  of  the  F,'S"'"  '"''''  ^'^'--^tac.na,  "and 
jurisdiction  of  the  Bay  Cnl™,,  'T''  '  '°  """°  "'«'«■•  'he 
Wright  and  his  iloek  iJselt? 'ew  hoinl  •'."'"'"-"  ""  ^^"-"- 

In  1 64 1,  some  of  the  FvPtr.,-  .. 
from  Thomas  G„ro-es„eoh,"T^?''?'"'°"  S"'  Permission 
Governor  of  the  ptvinee  oTsf  ,  "'  f «'■'""•■>"''.  and  Deputy 

'-en  the  Offtu^qL  Td^K  nte  ^nk  Rr"''V'^  ''-""^  ''- 
e.Sht  tniles  inland,  and  two  -ears  later  "1?'  rT  ""■'  '"'• 
wnght,  minister  of  Gods  word  ^L  \f  '  ^^"^  J"'"'  Wheol- 
lute  power,  to  sett  forth  "1'^?'"' """»""'«'l  ^I^-^"- 
that  shall  come  to  inhabU  '  °'     """''"  ""'°  '''"y  "an 

bo^frxn^ihi  iroi"'  T'  ^^^°"^'  ^'--  -« 

a  pioneer  in  two'frontter^trretnr  1:':^;:;?/™"^^-     ^'^ 

"The  Combination." 


38 


TRUE   SroKIES   OF   NKW    ENCJLANI)   CAPTIVES. 


our  Puritan  preacher  must  have  stood  him  in  good  stead. 
The  historian  of  Wells,  in  speakin<^  of  the  connection  of  the 
Rev.  John  Wheelwrij^ht  with  that  town  adds,  "  He  left  sons 
whose  enert^ies  were  instrumental  in  buildin<^  it  up,  and  giv- 
ing it  an  iniluential  position  in  the  public  councils; — men 
whose  services  were  of  immense  benefit  in  those  early  days, 
when  souls  were  exposed  to  the  most  severe  tests  of  a  true 
citizenship." 

Samuel,  son  of  the  Reverend  John  Wheelwright,  filled 
successively  all  offices  of  trust  in  the  gift  of  his  townsmen. 

"In  1677  he  was  the  representative  of  York  and  Wells. 
In  1 68 1  he  was  one  of  the  Provincial  Council,  and  later  he 
became  Judge  of  Probate  and  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas." 

Picture  the  Wells  of  two  hundred  years  ago.  On  a  plateau, 
perhaps  a  mile  back  from  the  ocean,  a  narrow  clearing, 
bounded  on  three  sides  by  a  vast  and  gloomy  wilderness. 
A  stony  highway  following  the  trend  of  the  ridge.  On  one 
side  of  the  road,  a  row  of  houses  scattered  far  apart.  Opposite, 
the  rocky  slopes  descending,  subdued  by  incessant  toil,  bear 
a  scanty  harvest  of  maize.  Below,  wide  reaches  of  marsh, 
threaded  by  winding  creeks,  the  haunt  of  countless  wild 
fowl.  The  desert  beach,  and  the  sullen  sea  beyond.  To 
York,  the  nearest  settlement,  a  day's  journey  by  the  shore 
if  the  tide  was  right ;  if  not,  by  any  way  that  a  man  or  horse 
could  take. 

With  few  exception.s,  if  we  may  credit  its  historian,  the 
people  of  Wells,  up  to  about  the  year  1700,  were  poor, — 
materially,  in<  Uectually  and  morally.  Their  houses  were 
mostly  of  logs,  daubed  with  clay.  They  had  few  personal 
comforts  or  conveniences.  Their  beds  were  of  the  cat-tail 
rushes,  which  they  gathered  from  the  marsh.  Knives  and 
forks,  teacups  and  saucers,  silver  spoons,  chairs,  carpets  and 
looking  glasses,  were  luxuries  almost  unknown.     Their  food 


KSTIIKR    \VIII.:KL\VRrGIiT. 


was  of  the  simr)lr>«f      tt,^     i     i  ^  ~ ■ 

tea  nor  coffee  'S^n  .llZ^^iT''^''  "°  """-'  -"  "" 
tne  chief  of  ,hei,.  diet  Th,  ,  "'  '^"^  ''""'''  '•''-"*.  were 
WcILs  i.s  thus  descril^ed  bvtl^c  ,  "'  "'"  "^''=«'  ■"'•>"  « 

■•«  also  ti^c  .sitting  room  and  par  :™  l''^'''"-  '"^""^  '^'"^hen 
cover  a  table,  a  pewter  potrha„„er  =  "m'lf  """""^  ^'^  '"- 
Pini?  pan  and  a  skillet      No  cr„7.r       I-  °  ™°'''''"''  ■''  drip- 

knives,  forks,  nor  spoons  -..t'?'  "  ""'  ^''''  ""«•  N" 
contains  two  other  L^;  i  eaeht"V","""-  '''"'  ''™«'-' 
et  and  a  chest."  "''  "^  "^''''d'  >s  a  bed,  a  blank- 

si  ™lt::  b::wtr  r  a!i"ofi  ''"'f^-">'  ■■'■^  -»e,  and 

not  wonder  at  this  eo,  dit?„„  „  ,T  "'"'  V'™'/-'  We  can- 
that  the  labors  of  the  ne  1^"  ^T'  *'"'"  "«  '"emember 
dian  attacks.  Rath  r  ,^t  Ts  .dmb-  " h™  '"'-™P'«1  by  I„. 
and  nndauntcd  eonra-re  JtV         ,?  "-'  """•■'Srginif  energy 

-'  danger,  they  ste^Sfls^y  ^n'to  therrt""  °'  ''""■*'P 

and  Ignorant  they  mav  havV.  hi"  "  territory.    Poor 

rality  according  to'^.,S.'Xd'^^™,r"°'".f  ""^  '''s'^''^'  -"O" 
brave  settlers  fro™  th  tr  /  o„tier  p'r^p"""  ""^  "'^- 
I.ves  were  in  jeopardy.  Ao-afn  If  ■  ™''>'  '"'"'•  ""eir 
devastated,  their  Louses  btS  '?■'*■'''""  '"*='■•  fie'ds  were 
or  carried  into  captivUy  b  t  not  1  '  ""'''^^°''  """^'"=^ed 
ment  wholly  deserted  """''^  ^^'^  "^e  little  settle- 

From  1688  to  the  peace  of  Rvswi,.l-  r.r    ■, 
provoked  and  unjust  liable  attacks  '  ^P  '^  "^""'^  "^  "n- 

tier,  by  the  French,  undo  the  „T  '""^'  "P°"  ""  f™n- 
Eastern  Indians,  from  encroa.^,/  i  f  "^  Protecting  the 
divert  the  Aben^qui.,  to  prevem'irr  ,  '  ""^  ''"«"■*      T" 

A  hook  on  which  to  hang  a  pot 


mmmmmmmmmmmm 


40  TRUE   STORIKS   OK   NEW    ENCI.AND    CAl'lIVKS. 


the  English  with  proffers  of  friendship,  to  keep  the  luiglish 
to  the  west  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  thereby  to  seeure  Maine 
as  a  part  of  Acadia,  was  the  motive  of  these  attacks.  The 
instructions  to  Villebon  on  his  appointment  as  Governor  of 
Acadia,  were  to  make  the  Abenaquis  live  by  war  against  the 
English,  and  himself  to  set  them  a  laudable  example. 

Admit  that  the  blow  struck  at  Pemaquid'  in  1689,  and  at 
Casco'  in  1690,  were  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the  pillage  at  Pcn- 
tagoet'  in  1688, — no  such  justification  can  be  offered  for  the 
butcheries  at  Kittery,  Berwick,  York  and  Oyster  River.' 

In  this  border  warfare,  religious  fanaticism  was  the  strong- 
est weapon  of  the  French.  If  the  Abenaki  chieftain  flagged, 
and  seemed  willing  to  listen  to  overtures  of  peace  from  the 
English,  the  exhortations  of  the  mission  priests  of  the  Ken- 
nebeck  and  Penobscot,  fanned  the  liame  of  war  afresh.  The 
scene  at  Father  Thury's  mission  on  the  departure  of  these 
war  parties  was  one  of  great  religious  excitement."'  The 
warriors  crowded  the  chapel,  seeking  confession  and  absolu- 
tion, as  if  going  to  certain  death,  and  when  these  savage  cru- 
saders, hideous  in  fresh  war  paint,  set  out  from  the  mission, 
headed  by  their  priest,  their  women  and  children  threw 
themselves  upon  their  knees  before  the  altar,  and  relieving 
each  other  by  detachments,  counted  their  beads  continually 
from  daybreak  till  nightfall,  beseeching  Jesus,  the  vSaints  and 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  for  protection  and  victory  in  the  holy 
war.  The  infant  towns  of  Eastern  New  I^^ngland  received 
a  baptism  of  blood  at  the  hands  of  the  Abenaki  converts,  which 
was  sanctioned  and  encouraged  by  their  mission  priests. 

'Fort  at  moiiili  of  the  Kennebec. 

'■^Portland. 

■'Castine. 

■•Durham. 

'See  Relation   du    Combat   de   Caribas  par    M.    Thury,  Missionaire,  1689. 
Vol.  I,  Doc.  pub.  a  Quebec,  p.  478. 


M>«MMIHWM«||*H>M» 


KSTiiKR  \viiKi:i.\vRi(;iri\  41 


The  French  archives  contain  abundant  authority  for  these 
statements,  in  the  correspondence  of  those  concerned,  in  the 
instructions  of  the  government,  and  in  the  reports  of  oflicials. 

We  of  to-day  are  not  responsible  for  the  unpleasant  facts 
of  history.  They  must  be  met  without  excuse  or  denial, 
without  prejudice  or  passion.  The  evidence  that  the  mission 
priests  of  the  Abenakis  were  active  proin(jters  of  the  strife 
can  no  more  be  refuted,  than  the  testimony  again.st  the 
Puritan  ministry  for  their  part  in  the  persecution  of  the 
Quakers,  and  the  horrors  of  the  Witchcraft  delusion.' 

The  names  of  the  Fathers  Thury  and  Bigot  are  as  truly 
and  painfully  connected  with  the  tragedies  of  Pemaquid  and 
Oyster  River,  as  those  of  Cotton  Matlier  and  Pastor  Wilson 
with  the  whipping,  mutilating  and  killing  of  Quakers,  and 
the  hanging  of  witches.  It  was  an  age  of  intolerance.  We 
may  not  judge  the  past  by  the  standards  of  the  present. 

During  the  period  1  have  mentioned,  Maine  had  passed 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  but  though  every 
English  settlement  to  the  east  of  Wells  had  been  laid  waste, 
(the  survivors  fleeing  to  Wells  for  refuge,)  the  authorities  at 
Boston  seem  to  have  shown  an  indifference  to  the  needs  of 
that  place.  There  were,  however,  valiant  men  in  Wells, 
keenly  alive  to  the  perils  of  the  hour,  and  ever  on  the  alert 
to  save  the  town,  and  defend  the  province.  Conspicuous 
among  them  were  Lieut.  Joseph  vStorer  and  Capt.  John 
Wheelwright.  In  the  annals  of  New  L^ngland  there  are  no 
nobler  names. 

John  Wheelwright  was  the  son  of  Samuel,  and  grandson 
of  the  pugilistic  Puritan,  Rev.  John  Wheelwright.  By  his 
prudence,  his  energy,  his  fidelity,  his  bravery  and  his  pat- 

'The  archives  also  contain  letters  from  Acadian  officials,  censuring  and 
asking  for  the  removal  of  certain  priests,  "do  nothings,"  who  took  no  part  in 
the  war,  but  attended  strictly  to  their  religious  duties  and  were  therefore  sus- 
pected of  favoring  the  English. 


42 


TRUli   STOKIKS   OF   NKW    KNGLAND   CAI'TIVKS. 


riotism,  he  earned  the  distinction,  of  beinj^  "the  bulwark  of 
Massaehusetts  for  defence  against  Indian  assaults."' 

Letters  abound  in  our  archives,  sisj^ned  b)'  Storer  and 
Wheelwrii^ht,  and  other  faithful  sentinels  on  this  outpost, 
entreating'  that  they  may  not  be  left  to  perish,  but  that  sol- 
diers and  ammunition  may  be  sent  to  their  relief,  with  money 
and  provisi(Mi  for  their  support. 

By  their  foresight,  some  houses  were  palisaded,  and  vStorer 
and  others  built  garrison  houses  as  early  as  16.S9.  As  these 
garrison  houses  are  a  feature  fast  disappearing  from  the  face 
of  New  England,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  describing  them. 
They  were  two  stories  in  height,  the  upper  story  projecting 
a  foot  or  two  beyond  the  lower,  small  port  holes  being  some- 
times made  in  the  floor  of  the  projection,  through  which  those 
within  might  fire  down,  or  pour  boiling  water  upon  rin  enemy 
attempting  to  force  an  entrance  through  the  door  or  win- 
dows below.  There  were  also  portholes  in  other  parts  of  the 
house.  Other  garrison  houses  were  built  of  hewn  timbers, 
eight  or  ten  inches  square,  laid  horizontally,  one  over  the 
other.  The  do(jrs  were  of  heavy  plank,  and  often  there  were 
port  holes  for  windows.  Some  of  these  houses  had  Hankers, 
or  watch  towers,  at  two  diagonal  corners,  from  which  one 
could  see  every  part  of  the  building.  The  principal  garrison 
houses  of  the  town  were  palisaded,  and  like  the  so-called  "Old 
Indian  House"  in  Deerfield,  served  as  a  refuge  for  the  neigh- 
bors in  any  alarm; — and  as  quarters  for  the  soldiers,  sent  for 
their  protection.  vStorer's  was  the  largest  garrison  house  in 
Wells.  For  his  heroic  defence  of  vStorer's  house  in  1692, 
Captain  Convers  was  made  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
forces  in  Maine. 

In  the  midst  of  these  troubh)Us  times,  in  the  very  year  of 
the  building  of  vStorer's  fort,  John  Wheelwright  married 
Mary  Snell  and  took  her  home  to  the  little  one  story  house, 

'Maine  was  bought  by  Massachusetts  in  his  time. 


•'-•■STHKK   WlIEKI.WRlciiT 

43 


•short  d„rati.,„.  By  l!^^""''^y  '''  """■''■•  1""  P«.ce  was  „f 
his  irrandson  i„  ,;oo ah^  ^'h,  "T  'Y""'  "'  ■^■'■™'  f- 
Jf^Scmcnt  made  to  \Vil|i.im  of  FnT-' ,  '^  "'"  ""''^"">  <••"- 
"f  Partition.  His  sub  ",'"",,  r.'';'  '"  ""'  '""  '''--''-- 
the  Pretender,  as  l<inj. ,'  '.■"  ,,m  '"'  "  "'  -'•""^"  ''•''-••"■''. 
of  the  treaty  of  Ry^^^^  ''"»'"•'"''•  «»■•<  ••'  «ross  infri„ge„,e„t 

'"^"^'"^oy^lTu^^Zi":^!;''  ',^""<'y  ■•^■'"■•"ed  to  H„.s. 

■■'fter  Lisarrival,  he  wa  t™    ,;,,•.  '^'^     "'"'""    '•^"  "■•'>•« 

ration  of  war  against   Franco      F  "'  ''•'"«^'''"<l-s  <Ieefa. 

Imlians  at  the  Eastward  he  wiih  ■"'"'*''  "'""''^''  ^'""^  the 
"nee  to  Pemaqnid,.  a,  Veoe  ed  '?  ''"  'V"  '"^■"''■'''  «"■■"'  •''t 
•■egion,  promisis,,  peace  SaHr.'""  ""  •^■•"••''-"»  "f  ti>at 
roturned  to  c,.,<..atuVate  the  G  ""ra  c  \""^  T"''"^'''^-  •"-' 
h>«  journey,  and  to  reiterate  1  i     ,  ,      ""  "''•'  ''^"'-•'-■'-'^s  "f 

of/he  fort  at  Pemaqui'ir  ""•■""'  ^™-  "''•'  --estoration 

J- nc  follovvino"  f>vf"'i  f  ^ 
to  the  Governor,  dated  A™;"  ^':"'•■''°f  J"""  Wheelwri,.ht 
■'^Id  no  faith  in  the  wordfclrti:; '4°; .t"^  '"•^'  "'^  '"™" 

<'.-ea.  I.ro,„is  „f  P„,„  J„„  f^>^'  ,^;  ;  ""'I  "e  English  nation,  „,t,I 
n>ay»tand  with  theire  owr  e «  \  h  T  ''■"'"'»« -"""K  as  it 
"o  onger,  their  teachers  ;  .,s  "'  b^'  h  ^  "'"'  '"»>'  '"^--'l'.  ■'•"I 
he  kept  with  Heretielcs,  sucl  ™  |  5  ''^  "■'■"  "'"•''  *»  "»  faith  to 
alsoheingnatundeydeseatf,,,  ""=>',  ^'^"""'"s  to  he,  the„,»clves 
°f  tl«T  horahie  deseatfulness  in  the  I  « r""^  "^-^P^ience,!  .o  mutch 
;At  .he  „„„,h  „,  „,  ^^„^^^^^  ^;;;^  ''»•='  war,  upon  many  treaties  of 

This  was  a  sorf  nf  "/■'     .1 

tne  debatable  ground  of  Acadia. 


44 


TKUK   SIOKIKS   ()!•    NKW    LNCLAM)    CAl'llVES. 


Peace,  so  lliat  1  caiiiiol  but  apprehend  ourselves  tliat  live  in  tliese  re- 
mote parts  of  tlie  countrey,  and  bcinj^'  frontires,  to  lie  in  (ireat  Han- 
ger, and  ronsiderinj;'  that  war  was  rroclainied  with  the  Kreiuli 

who  may send  out  an  army  aj^ainst  us this  town  he- 

injj;  tlic  nearest  to  the  I''.nemy.  our  Iniiabitants  doth  therefore  I'ray, 
that  your  Mxt:eleni;y  wouhl  assist  us  witii  sum  men  twenty  or  tiiirtie, 
or  so  many  as  your   Kxcelleney  in  Wis(h)m   may  lliini<   fit." 

Wheel  ,vri<j^ht  g;t)es()n  to  risk  for  the  "Liberty  of  a  (iarrisoii 
I  house  I  Infonnin^'  your  I'^xeelleney  that  if  I  niiist  remove  into 
the  middle  of  the  town,  I  mtist  leave  that  Little  I^^state  I  have 
to  tiiaintain  my  Family  with,  and  Carey  a  larj^e  Family  where 
I  have  but  little  to  maintain  them  withall." 

vSix  or  seven  of  their  eleven  ehildren  had  already  been  born 
to  John  Wheelwright  and  Mary  Snell,  and  the  little  one  story 
house  at  the  Town's  End,  being  in  an  exposed  and  isolated 
situation,  and  now  too  small  for  his  inereasint.'"  family,  Wheel- 
writ^ht  asked  the  eonsent  and  help  of  the  government  to  build 
a  substantial  garrison  house,  not  only  for  the  safety  of  his 
own  family,  but  as  a  refuge  in  ease  of  attack,  for  his  nearest 
neighbors. 

vStorer  and  Wheelwright,  being  the  leading  men  of  the  town, 
were  licensed  as  retailers  of  beer  and  strong  liqu(jrs,  and 
their  houses  served  as  ordinaries  or  taverns  for  the  pubb'c. 
"In  those  days,"  sighs  the  historian  of  Wells,  "public  houses 
were  not  always  ntirseries  of  virtue."  It  is  a  hint  of  the  mor- 
als of  the  times,  that  both  Storer  and  Wheelwright  were  "in- 
dicted for  keeping  Keel  '^i''d  bowls  at  their  houses  contrary 
to  law."'     Perhaps  th'  lary  was  not  an  unmixed  evil. 

Ministers  and  jud'  .  up  here,  in  their  journeys  from 

place  to  place,  bi  g  the  latest  news  from  other  parts. 

Courts  were  held  hcie.  Here  the  town  officers  met  to  delib- 
erate, and  the  men  of  the  village  gathered  here  for  social 
chat   and  pastime.     Commissioners,  referees  and  executors 

'"  Keels  and  bowls,"  old  English  for  nine-pins  and  balls. 


ESTIIKK    WIlKKI.WkKill  r.  45 


met  in  the  "foreroom"  of  the  ordinary,  to  lay  out  roads,  deeide 
disputes,  and  settle  estates.  Rum  was  a  necessity  of  life  in 
those  days,  and  the  Hip  and  toddy,  mixed  by  John  Wheel- 
\vrij4ht  oti  sueh  occasions,  was  scored  a^'ainst  the  town,  the 
man,  or  the  estate,  whose  business  was  there  transacted.  To 
the  l)oys,  who  had  neither  books,  nt)r  ^ames,  nor  school,  the 
ordinary  was  aniusinj^,  and  I  have  not  a  doubt,  that  lilile 
ICsther  Wheelwriy^ht  stole  away  now  and  then  from  her  busy 
mother,  to  look  on  at  the  ^ames.  We  may  fancy  her  with 
her  closely  cropped  head,  her  I'uritan  cap  and  homespun 
frock,  clappinj^  her  baby  hands  and  shoutinj^f  in  glee  at  a 
ten  strike  with  the  bowls  and  keels,  made  by  S(Mne  j^aunt 
frontiersman. 

Early  in  June,  1703,'  Dudley  was  notified  by  the  (lovernor 
of  New  York,^  that  the  French  and  Indians  were  preparinj^ 
'  3r  an  attack  on  I3eerfield.  Whereupon  Dudley  invited  the 
Abenaqui  sachems  to  a  conference  at  Casco.  Thither  he  re- 
paired with  a  splendid  retinue  on  the  20th  of  June,  and  there 
to  meet  him,  came  all  the  famous  sachems  of  the  time.  For 
the  Norridge weeks  there  was  that  loup  ijarou  Ilopehood,  ex- 
celling all  other  savages  in  eruelt ;, —  and  Moxus  the  brag- 
gart, and  Adiawando,  for  the  Penr  icooks,  and  Wattanummon, 
for  the  Pequawkets,  and  Bomazeen,  the  crafty,  for  the  Kenne- 
becks,  and  Wanungunt,  for  the  Penobscots.  The  Governor 
tells  them  that  commissioned  by  his  victorious  Oueen,  he 
has  come  as  to  friends  and  brothers,  to  reconcile  all  differences 
since  the  last  treaty.  After  a  solemn  pause,  their  Interpret- 
er replies: 

'■"Brother, — the  clouds  fly  and  darken,  3'et  we  still  sing  the  songs 
of  peace.  As  high  as  the  sua  is  above  the  earth,  so  far  are  our 
thoughts  from  war,  or  from  making  the  least  breach  between  us." 

'Dudley's  2nd  trip  10  the  Eastward. 

''Lord  Cornbury,  a  cousin  of  Queen  Anne.     Palfrey  Hist.  N.  E.  Vol.  IV,  says 
that  Lord  Cornbury  kept  a  spy  at  Albany  to  hear  the  talk  of  the  Six  Nations. 


■HSHH!™™^^^^HMi 


46  TRUE   S'l'CJKIKS   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAITIVES. 

After  an  interchange  of  gifts,  both  parties  cast  more  stones 
on  the  mounds  heaped  up  at  a  former  treaty  and  called  the 
Two  Brothers,  to  signify  fraternal  love  existing  between  the 
English  and  Abenakis.  At  this  memorable  council.  Captain 
Samuel,  a  savage  of  great  renown,  who  was  most  officious  in 
trying  to  lull  the  fsars  of  the  English,  said:'  "Several  mis- 
sionaries have  come  among  us,  sent  by  the  French  Fryars  to 
break  the  peace  between  the  English  and  us,  yet  their  words 
have  made  no  impression  on  us.  We  are  as  firm  as  the  moun- 
tains and  will  so  continue  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  en- 
dure." 

Parti;  »'t)lleys  were  fired  on  both  sides,  and  Dudley  re- 
tired, believing  that  present  danger  was  averted  from  Deer- 
field  and  the  whole  frontier.  His  satisfaction  with  this  re- 
markable love  feast,  must  have  been  somewhat  lessened  by 
the  presence  of  Mesambowit  and  Wexar  for  the  Andros- 
eoggins,  who  thcnigh  "seemingly  affable  and  kind,  came  with 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  sixty  five  canoos,  well  armed 
and  gaudily  painted," — by  the  late  arrival  of  Wattanummon, 
who  purposely  lingered,  as  was  afterwards  said,  expecting  a 
re  enforcement  of  two  hundred  French  and  Indians,  with 
whom  they  were  to  fall  upon  the  liinglish, — and  by  the  dis- 
covery at  the  parting  salute,  that  the  guns  of  the  savages 
were  charged  with  ball. 

Not  two  months  had  passed  since  the  treaty  of  Casco, 
when  one  midsummer  day,  six  or  seven  bands  of  French  and 
Indians  fell  upon  the  scattered  settlements.  Charlevoix  says 
calmly,'-  "They  committed  some  trifling  ravages,  and  killed 
about  three  hundred  men,  but  the  essential  point  was  to  en- 
gage the  Abenakis,  in  such  a  manner,  that  to  retract  would 
be  impossible." 

'Drake,  Fiook  of  the  Indians,  Vol.  IF.  p.  125. 
•Charlevoix,  NouvcUc  France,  Vol.  II,  p.   28(). 


■Wta 


■'''*'**»''^*'«»^M*-.^  ^, 


Hampton,"  sa,.s  th»  .'t.,  .      *:'^f'-'"    ""-''■e  attacked.     - 


47 


Hampton,"  saj-s" 'ti;;:7i;,;„;:;e,  V;-^,";";'  -•-'■■o  attacked/    "It" 

that  wa.s  attendinjr  her  ^nc    ,n     ^    >  P.f ''■'='""8  the  misery 
-aided  one  of  thc^n  t'  de^t.  'f  "L  °'''"'''  ""■'»  ""  '"-  «- 
the  second  time.     Her  hu^,?,; ,    *^     ,   '''  '''^''"«''  '■''•'Ptive  for 
his  second   e.xpeditio     to  C    'j  'T'Tr''"-^'^'"  "'-''^«".  ™ 
James  Adams  of  VVells  Zrettjf    T"''  '"'"'''''y  »d 
redeemed  on  that  expeditkm  ''  '"'''•^-f""^  ^'"P'ives 

atl^eerfieldinthets;  '  T,nf '■"'',-■  r'""'  ^'"'^- ->  ' '°V4 
the  captives  of  both  twn-  ,^  "^        '  "'"  ""'^'^"^  ">«  "vcs  of 

Wells.  havin<,  sneces     ,11  "■'"'  '''■"-'''  ""'"■• 

eame  the  specia!  o^^r:^^^'^  "^'^  '^:^-^""  "^  -^-'.  be- 
at that  t„„e,  Cotton  Mather  sits-  tV  ^'"""l>''tin{f  victory 
S0.1.S  and  plun.ler.  s'  : ;  *  ''■'^'  '""  '"  '""'"»!?  Pe.^ 

■'">  one,  and  his  wife  be  nrll  of  f  ""'=■"'''"  »""»ld  serve  such 
Air.  Whcelwrijfht,  instc^a  ui  bdn  "r  '"  ",""  "  '^l"-'''  '••"d 
now  hs.  was  to  be  the  servant  of  ^,       '""■"'^  Counsellor  he 

•''W';eeiwr.,..was„ri;\;v::;;rrr-''  '^''--'"- 

■-rnLr:itr::'',;^-:;,:;:  :^:""    -  -'-^  0....  on  the 
l^^o.ior.1        "        '  '^°-^'  ^"^^^^^  ^"  the  capture  or  death  of 

•'Kennehiinkport. 

"F":»lm()uth. 

■"Portland. 

^Penhallovv,  India,,  wars 


48 


TKUIC   sroRIKS   OF   NKW    ENGLAND    CAP  TIVKS. 


thirty-nine  of  the  inhabitants.  Whecl\vri<jfht's  house  being 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  villag'e,  was  probably  one  of  the 
first  attaeked.  His  little  daug'hter  Esther,  then  seven  years 
old,  was  eaptured.  The  intrepid  St(jrer  was  also  bereft.  His 
daughter  jSIary,  aged  eighteen,  was  among  the  eaptives.  One 
longs  to  know  what  fc^llowed.  Was  there  pursuit  ?  Whither 
were  the  captives  hurried,  and  how  did  it  fare  with  them  on 
the  retreat  ?  Aias  !  no  echo  from  the  past  replies.  We  may 
assume  that  Mary  Storer  and  Esther  Wheelwright  were  kind- 
ly treated  by  their  savage  eaptors,  who  knew  the  value  of 
their  prize,  and  doubtless  expected  a  large  sum  for  the  ran- 
som of  the  two  girls. 

In  gloom  and  despair,  the  meagre  liarvest  was  gathered 
that  autumn  by  the  survivors  at  Wells.  Drearily  the  winter 
settled  dw,,  n, — joylessly  came  planting  time  again,  and  a  sec- 
ond harvest  was  garnered,  before  the  veil  of  silence  and  sus- 
pense, that  hung  over  the  fate  of  the  captives  was  lifted. 
Then  came  a  letter  from  Samuel  Hill,  dated  Canada,  Oct.  4, 
1704,  with  assurances  of  the  safety  of  his  family,  and  that  of 
his  brother  Ebenezer.  Meantime  Deerfield  had  been  sacked, 
and  in  the  December,  following  Hill's  letter.  Ensign  vSheldon 
of  that  town  set  out  for  Canada.  The  hearts  of  all  the  New 
England  eaptives  there  were  cheered  by  the  news  of  his  ar- 
rival. On  the  29th  of  March,  1705,  while  in  QueDec,  he  re- 
ceived from  his  son's  wife,  Hannah  Chapin  of  vSpringfield, 
then  a  captive  in  Montreal,  a  letter  enclosing  the  following,' 
from  James  Adams,  a  Wells  captive : 

"1  pray  glue  my  Kind  loue  to  Landlord  Sheldeii,  and  tel  Him  ihat 
i  am  sorry  for  all  his  los.  1  doe,  in  these  few  lins  showe  youe,  that 
god  has  shone  yo  grat  Kindness  and  marcy.  In  carrying  youre 
Daigliter  Hanna  and  Mary  in  partif'--eler,  through  so  grat  a  jorney 
far  beiend  my  expectation,  noing  How  Lame  they  was  ;  the  Rest  of 
yore  children  are  with  the  Indians, — Rememberrance  Hues  near  ca- 

'Now  in  Memorial  Hall,  Deerfield. 


ESTHKR    WlIEEIAVKr,;in- 
.         ,  ^^ — ^J  49 

y<-  „.... ... ;:;:;,.;  ,r:,:;;^  -^  »•«>  ;!<«  „■  ,„„ ..,  „,„ 

Shortly  after  this   „n  n,  ""'  ^'■'""  "«  "'<'^'"«»-" 

«-'->Hi„,™,:^„,™^;-;^^"     April.  „os,  the  eaptivo 

De  Vaudrei,ir.s  reply  to  Di    w",      "™'  ""'  ^  'te'Treter  with 
prisoners,  vvhieh  pmpo  °,I  lo  ?7c,  ^'i?"'"'^  ""■  '-■■'^^■liange  of 
-I.-;.     Hin  visited  his'fr^L/sW,f'™i  ','"'  ^■"■■'■-"  '"Can- 
and  was  probaljly  the  btnr  r  nf  ^    ^/'"'''°"  ""■''  '•'■nl«'^«y 
brother  Ebenezer:  "'^  ""•■  f""""'''"S-  I'-'tter  fro,n  his^ 

Cousin  I'cullet,,,,  Flctdicr  „f  «  .,      "*i"'^'"'-';  March  ,,0, 

-gi-r,   a,„,   M..,  St™.    'oM^:;;:  ^,;7«'^^-.'>rotherJ.,L;„, 
-Sl.-rs  here,  are  .1,  „,!!.     My  e      ',  ';"''  "'""■  f™""»  -ul 

""'  '"">  -">■  ^«p.  a,K,  i„  u„,.  t't;,:;/;:';,!'^""'' "'  ""■  '■">■ 

Vour  loving  brotlier  and  sister 
Never  was  tlie  sea  so  bl,„.  ''''"^^-^'^  -nd  An,,;,,  h,,,,,." 

gaily  to  the  shore.^ever  w;7tr";  "'"  '"'-■  — ^  'eap  so 
■"Oft.  or  the  scent  of  the  pi„T  ,     "  "'^'  ""  ^'"-^  "■■  'he  air  so 
hat  letter  sp.-ead  fro,^  dooTto  1'"'';'^"'""  "''^  »^-»  °f 
;o  years  they  had  mou^^j  th^i^  In'    ,  ^''''-     '""'  '"^'^'Y 
'he  glad   tidi,.,^s  eomes     hat  "c'  .,?''-'^  '''^  '''-''■"I'  ^-"e,, 

Sayer  and  brother  ToseDh's   ,  '    ^^•'''^'''  ■''"d   Mary 

"'her  friends  and  neioll  s'^f' '  ;'""  ''""'y  «"'-  -'<! 

Joy.nStorersgarrisoI  I ,  Whee^"'""' ' "'"  ""-'"■"  '^"  -•''•^ 
revived,andyearnin..,no,-e  ,  '"•'^'^  "='"«•  "ot  joy.  but  hope 
'o  fi»d  and  rescue  E^tr,' if    ^^'•''■"''^ '■-<"- -"-n^'hened: 

tint   where   was   Esthe,->     Pi    '  1       , 
Adants  were  i,.,ora„t  o  '  he     ^^ie''  f !  ?'"'  ••""'    J"^'"- 
^lude  the  sharp  eyes  of  To  ,!  Sh,  iT    "  ''°''  "'<'  ">■«  '-'hild 
De  Vaudreuil?  "'    '"  Sheldon,  and  the  vigilance  of 

'Quebec. 


mmssmmsassssssssmmmB^mBmsmmm 


50  TRUK    SroRlKS   OF   NEW    KNtJLAND   CAl'TlVi^S, 

Far  away  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  to  the  head  waters  of 
the  Kennebee,  the  Abenaki  wolf  had  swiftly  fled  with  the 
bleatint^  lamb  thus  snatehed  from  the  fold.  There,  in  one  of 
the  Abenaki  villa<^es  of  Father  Bigot's  mission,  Esther  lived 
in  the  wigwam  of  her  tawny  master,  an  object  of  wonder  to 
Lis  children,  of  jealousy,  perhaps,  to  his  fiei-ce  squaw. 

The  days  lengthen  into  weeks, — the  weeks  to  months, 
and  these  to  years,'  when  one  day  as  he  is  making  his  arduous 
round  from  village  to  village,  baptizing,  catechizing,  confess- 
ing his  converts.  Father  Bigot  sees  a  little  girl,  whose  pale 
face,  shrinking  manners  and  tattered  garments,  show  her  to 
be  of  different  race  from  the  bold,  dusky,  naked  rabble 
around  her.  He  calls  her  to  him.  He  speaks  to  her,  perhaps, 
an  English  word.  She  does  not  answer.  She  has  lost  her 
childhood's  speech.  He  sends  for  her  savage  master,  and 
learns  that  she  is  Wheelwright's  child.  "The  l*2nglish  rose 
is  drooping,"  says  the  priest,  "the  forest  life  is  too  hard  for 
her."  He  will  "transplant  her  to  Canada,  where  she  will 
thrive  better  under  the  nurture  of  the  gentle  nuns."  "The 
little  white  flower  must  not  be  plucked  up,"  says  the  Indian, 
"let  her  grow  up  among  the  pine  trees,  to  deck  by  and  by, 
the  wigwam  of  some  young  brave."  On  each  return  of  the 
priest  to  the  village,  this  discussion  is  renewed,  but  neither 
promise  nor  threat  can  move  the  sullen  .savage. 

The  lot  of  the  little  captive  is  easier  from  that  day.  The 
Indian  knows  it  is  in  the  power  of  his  Great  Father  the 
French  (jovernor,  to  take  the  child  from  him,  and  he  tries 
by  kindness  to  win  her  to  stay.  The  priest  spares  no  pains 
to  teach  her,  and  the  intelligent  child  quickly  responds  to 
his  efforts.  Soon  she  can  say  her  crrz/o  and  her  catechism  in 
French,  as  well  as  in  Abenaki.  Only  she  finds  it  hard  that 
even  Father  Bigot  does  not  seem  to  understand  her  when  she 
talks  about  her  mother,  and  her  brothers  and  sisters.     And  if 

'Esther  Wheelwright  was  six  years  with  the  savages. 


KSTIIER    WMUEI.WKIC/ItT, 


She  asks  when  her  father  will  eom.  r~,        ~, " " 

.-ingry  and  the  priest  frownr  \r  ?■  ''"'  '"•■''  '""»ter  is 
formed  by  Father  HiJ7L  "hi d i'  "T  '"^  ^'■'""'■'-''"'  ■■«  -" 
.n  some  way  or  othei-  the  news  f  'T  "^  """^  ^'"'•'.  ■'•■"I 

Wheelwrij;l„,  long  sinee  g  vj;  „rb*t'  "'""'  '"'■"  "'^">-- 
alive,  i-'™"  »P  by  her  parents  as  dead,  is 

while  on  hrlaytfY;,,'rt^'""'- •'"■'''••'''  ''""'^"'•■''l  •>'  Wells 
to  Canada,  arriWng  at  M^^lrf'"""-''  ''""  "'"''^'^  -1"'^^ 
after,  he  writes  a.s  follow""  ""  "^^  ^rd  of  J,..„e.    Lon 

'"Dear  and  loviiur  chilflr^,-,  ,•    . 

-'ito„,,,.„,,„^:^:i''--^'<"^^^  

*^f» 1  have  liberty  runted',  '"*'   f™"'»   alt 

aaJ  to  the  governor,  ,-ukI  formy  redel  ".  ''"'  '"  '">'  '"'•■'"'^. 

';l>e    redee„,ed,   hy  two   1.Z     'ZZ::'  '"  ""'T'''  ^^"" 

'"■'' anil  I  have  been  with  the  ,  "■'"'    "'«    «"S- 

have  promised,  that  if  our  gl  e  nor.v^lK"";" ''''^  "'-ning.and  h^ 
redeemed,  for  the  governo:  h.  "e  '1  .^  '  ""'  '"•■"  "'=  '"a"  '»= 
chdd,  and    do  looke   for  hin,    ,    „  '  '"  ''"''='='"  >>'h':ilerites 

Mo™,  where  ,  an,,  and  f  Id '  :;  "^^  "^^  '-»  '^^  child  to 
matter,  that  we  n,ay  eo.ne  ho  e  befor  "  '"  ""  ""'  ""<=<  '"'  ''- 
Albany,  and  1  have  all.o  acquainted  """";  "''  "=  "■"''  -»-  ^X 
same."  acquainted  our  gofnear  Dedly-'  with  the 

Li«le''fie''w  tife""  ^"""^'•'^  "="-'  "'"-  at  the  san,e  titrte, 

'--- "M:;irt!:,rv:ri:':r  '^  -"•  -'• -orar 

ourr^r^ro:^--  ""-'-^'  -  ^-"•■'-"1 consearning 

■B„„™..  „,. """"'■  '"'  '^'^  '-^'^ase  of  Esther 


'B»"r„,.  History  „,  Well,,  p.  j^j, 
^Governor  Dudlej-. 


ii 


52  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENOLAND    CAI'TIVES. 

Wheelwrij^ht.  After  much  trouble,  Father  Bigot  succeeds  in 
buyins^  the  En<4lish  rose  from  the  AbencKjui  sachem.  In 
the  autumn  of  170S,  he  transplants  her  to  Quebec,  where  she 
is  kindly  welcomed  by  the  (lovernor  and  his  wife,  who  re- 
ceived her  into  their  own  household.  From  the  sqiuUor  and 
rags  of  the  wigwam  on  the  Kennebec,  to  the  luxury  of 
the  Chateau  vSaint  Louis,  what  a  contrast! — What  are  the 
thoughts  of  the  twelve  years  old  girl?  Have  the  five  years 
of  forest  life  blotted  out  her  remembrance  of  the  little  house 
at  the  town's  end  at  Wells?  She  has  learned  to  love  Pcre 
Bigot  as  her  kindest  friend  and  father.  To  priest  and  child 
alike,  the  parting  must  have  been  painful.  Does  she  console 
herself  with  the  belief  that  she  is  now  to  be  restored  to 
home  and  friends,  or  is  she  dazzled  and  pleased  by  her  sur- 
roundings? 

No  effort  seems  to  have  been  made  by  De  Vaudreuil  to  re- 
store ILsther  to  her  parents.  Madame  la  Marquise,  his  wife, 
having  received  an  appointment  as  assistant-governess  to 
the  royal  children  at  the  French  Court,  decides  to  place  her 
eldest  daughter,  Louise,  with  Esther  in  the  boarding  school 
of  the  La'suline  Convent. 

"The  1 8th  of  January,  1709,  says  the  Register  of  the  Con- 
vent, "]\L'idamc  la  Marquise  brought  us  a  little  English  girl, 
as  a  pupil.     vShe  is  to  pay  40  ^67/.s-."' 

The  names  of  Louise  de  Vaudreuil  and  Esther  Wheel- 
wright stand  side  by  side  on  the  list  of  pupils  at  the  poisioii 
of  the  Ursu lines  at  yuebec.  Thanks  to  Father  Bigot,  shortly 
after  entering  the  school,  Esther  took  her  first  communion 
"with  angelic  fervor."  Beloved  by  the  sisters,  and  happy  in 
her  convent  home,  Esther  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  be- 
come a  nun.  "But,"  says  the  annalist  of  the  Ursulines,  "the 
Marquis  who  considered  himself  pledged  to  restore  her  to 
her  family,  would  not  hear  a  word  to  this,  and  took  her  home 

'About  .$40  of  our  money. 


mmmsx-^'i-ssesiiMaaasait 


iSK 


'^*'"*'^tPO.Wf:',.p,„,,„   „.,,^„,,  ^^ 


DORfHHFF    :v      fg,)' 


1 


I 

I 


v^ 


J 


.■fij 


LA 

1'  ^'^ 


i;sTiii;k   \viii;i;i,\VKi(;ii  1-.  jj 


with  his  (lan^^-hter  to  the  fhiUcan.'-     A   political   prisoner  of 

such   importance,  could  not  he  permitted  to  imninre  Iiersi-lf 

in  a  convent,      (iraceful,  amiable,  mi.desl,    I'stlier  won    all 

hearts  at  the  chateau,  as  before  at  the  convent,     but  her  life- 

for  the  next  two  years  must  have  been  restless  and  unhappy. 

It  was  a  time  of  much  nej^otiation  between  the  two  o-,,vern- 

ments,  ccMieernin^r  a  <reneral  exchano-e  of  prisoners.     1  )urinj>- 

this  business,  Ivstheraccompanicd  I  )c  X'audrcuil  to  Three  Riv- 

crsand  Montreal.     At  Three  Rivers  she  stayed  with  the  Trsu- 

lines,  and  at  Montreal,  in    the  cloisters  of  the    llntel-Dicu. 

On  Saturday,  Oct.  3,  i;ii,  while  at  Montreal,  she  was  oo,]. 

mother  at  the  baptism  of  iJorothce  de  Noyon,  infant  daiioh- 

ter  of  Abijrail  Slcbbins,  a  Deerlicld  captive,  and  sioned  her 

name  in  a  handsome  handwritino-  in  the  jxirish  res^Hster,  with 

Father  Meriel,  and  the  son  of  the  P)aron  of  Lonoucil. 

Tn  June,  1712,  the  French  Oovcrnor  proposed  that  our  ca[)- 
tives  be  br()U<,dit  from  Canada  into  or  near  Dcerfield,  and 
French  prisoners  sent  home  from  thence.  Two  of  the  iMvnch 
in  our  hands,  absohitely  lefusinjr  to  return  to  Canada,'  youno- 
vSamuel  Williams''  set  out  from  Deerfield  with  the  others  on 
the  loth  of  July,  returning;  to  Boston  in  vSeptember,  with 
nine  New  I*2no-land  captives. 

The  absence  of  Madame  de  Vaudrcuil  in  l':uro])e,  making  it 
inconvenient  for  the  Governor  to  kee[)  Esther  with  him  at  the 
the  chateau,  he  yielded  at  last  to  her  entreaties  to  be  allowed 
to  go  back  to  her  Ursuline  mothers.  Fostered  by  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  convent,  a  religious  exaltaticm  took  possession  of 
her  soul.— "One  thought  alone,"  says  the  annalist,  "occupied 
her  mind, — the  preservation  of  her  faith  and  the  salvation  of 

'Esther  Wiis  thirteen  in  1709,  when  she  entered  the  pension,  reniaininjr  there 
till  1711. 

'Cosset  and   Le  Fevre. 

■■'Lieut.  Samuel  Williams,  then  but  twenty-three  years  old,  a  redeemed  cap- 
tive and  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams  of  Deerfield. 


.,.„......._.„_..:       .._. ,..t-i^e— 


54 


''''^'"•;   STOklKs   OF    VFW    l.-v,.,  . 


;>f  "••';i.--  lii....  in  .sen-,  ;■„;'"  ;;:/"^  «-""^'  v.,.,-,.  ,,,.  j„ : 

pcn.ses  „r   ii„,  „,,,,,„i,  "-  '"•-■■'-'"1  "11  clL.fravinj.  tlie  cv 

-.n.>,e„  to  wiu,.ss 't,:::  •,;:;-''"•  -  'i.^-  .mm^t,,,,;  ::- 

f'-'^'I'iiS  and   i-Iooucncc      F,  .V        ''''"'""  Kl"win.r  „,,■,,, 

tst  ic,  t|„.  „_,„„,  ,,^  ,,,„^.i';  ;'     '>"1'1  "K.,"  U>.  ,,nc..s,  .sl,„„..s 
"IJoar  .sister,-  ),e  savs     h,  h  ■"''•■  '■■^^'"'  '"'  !'<-•■■  lifo 

^l-ill  hold  them.  n,,      ,        ^^^ His  nVht  h-mrl 

;"•  >-  <"K.  yo.M..;e,f -t,;,^  ^.  t;',-"--;'-^  ->f  <!"crs  ,;,:;;; 

f -om  a  sterile,  and  i„^.,,,to  hn^.a  ''  ''^'''''">'  '■■'■'"^Pl.-nUed 
'h-  »'avc  of  „„,  ,,„  ,„  .  f ',  !;^;''«'---  y-  would  l,ave  boon 
promise,  u-lierc  vou  are  .,1  V^  ^'  '"  '■"  '■""'  "f  ^^ossimr  .J 
'"f  ^'LiULen  of  <■„;;,•'."'  •""""  '"  ™J»y  the  sweet  freedt.n  of 

ft-om  tho/aet  that  tl.eirlVot:   ,'"?'' '■^  ^'"""^  ^"•^"^'e" 
■''eek  her,  '"'""" ''''  'indegr.jom  went  .so  far  tj 

sist't^'thffm;,?-;;!,';;;',,!';;"--.  "a-  yo„  .„t.  ,„y  ,,.„ 

•*-ut  to  open  the  doo      „   .he   U  r""  ■''  '"'"''''    ^'•'■'"^"y  i» 
Aha..,e„,s,-hut  of  the  Mas.e    ,      ^r'  ""'  "'  ='   i'->«'il„l 
Lord.s  and  King  of  Kinjfs     t'V  ■'^ '""f"«™^---'he  Lord  of 
>n  tnumph.  and  if  this  trhtmnh  s        '''"'^  '""■  """>  --^'"^  i»  led 
°f  the  magnifieence  of  .  m  "  '  "7:  "'  T"  '"  '"''^<=  »°'hing 

-°->o->e  the  ,e.isr;--;f --:;:--- 


t'  I 


I 


l^^niMi    WIIKMr.wn,,;,,.,. 

";;'l'P.Ulms,|,c^.,.,,,,,,,.,,,       ;^    '''^-H^^^  lie  ,lc.|„V,.s 

,"'■'"  "."-l".'>  r-C,s..,,.s,  I      ;,      ':T,;"^";'"-  --'K-  n,,.,sle," 
'"">  "I  all  u|,„  l,.,v,  „„   cv  «."','''  ''"y""''  "'<•■  ".nccn 
■">•  -ic.ar  SLstc,..-     „e  ,';,  J      ' M;^:  , '  -"  ■-  X""  and  ,  „,,', 
^•tancc.s  ,n  which  he  round  1  ,,■  ""-'  '^"■■■■""■f.d  circ„„,. 

'"  ••"   IKT  perils,  Pnvati,,:;     ;,■,;;;*■;  "'  I''-"™  '"  iK-r  that 
I'flcd  and  ,e,l  1,3.  (,,,  ,,,,„„,  „;';"»-'"«-.  «l.e  had  been  up. 

Alhulinj^-   to  hvv  rcli  ■( 
<;"ve,n„r-,;  con,n,an,l.  and";!^,',','.  '"'"■'■'  '>'  ""'™'"   '•"   the 
f""!^'.  «".spe„.se,  anxi  -ty  .  n       ' t^f r,"'  "','"«-'^''--  -  full  o^ 
nvocat.on:  ■■Oh  ,ny  rJv.  t.w',  ,;;,',"■■  "V'  '--'-^  i"to  this 

o  t  e  .s„,.,„„.Ad  adventures  <,f  a  :    „'""', '"'  '"^"^bleonly 
f  J  hy  care  and  wh,,  seem.  ,      ,    ^        ■"  ""'""Ser,  so  vvcrthv 
iJKlst  Thou  seek  her  i,       e    ':'^""-:'   '"'^'^'h tfreat  thin/s^ 
»°  Sfreat  a  tumult  to  ear  vh^  ""''"' "^  "''•■'■''■•^y.  and  sttrn,, 
only  .0  see  her  snatle^if™"  ,■■'«■•■'>'  '""^  '■"native    an 
.nto  this  eountry,  onlyt.       "  ,j  ''?""-' ,  "-^t  Tiu,u  led  lor' 
ever  attain?    Hast  '/,,„„  ^^^^  '^^^  happiness  she  may 
only  to  make  her  re.nei  it«  i  ""^  "'estimable  nri.rf 

-,--^-Vo„ea„„o;t;,:^^^'-~'^it.erly.     No!  ^."^  t' 

"bstaeles  are  removed      No  Z         ""'  "'y""  «o<l.    All 

happiness.     So  lonjf  as  you    v/^'       '"''■•*  '"  ""=  «'-->y  "f  ym" 

yonrself,   Providente    ,  s^^,  ::w';"'  °' '"  '^'  '"  '"'^I-o- -  "f 

y"".-  father  and  ,„„ther  ,„  ,  '  "•■'"""•'''  'en.lerness   of 

fi'-«f  pursuit  of  ti,eir  ehih,'™"  '""'"'  "-'  -S-ness  of  tL?' 

Now  that  the  law  m-il-,..  , 
-  longer  oppose  th       "  i'lu  h"""  '"  ^•°"'-'f'  "-y  -u 
■on.  and  a  eondition  of  1°  e  wh^  ,    ?r'  """^"  °^  ^  ho'y  rehV 
^a«.se  they  know  „ot  i,s  exceP    ,  -^  disapprove,  only  bf 

In  April  followin,,  the  T  "•'  ""  "'  '^anetity."  ^  ''^" 

'"<,  tne  Ireaty  of  ntr»,.i,f    f^ 

y  "I   utreeht,  Captain  John 


56 


TRUE    STORIES   OE   NEW    ENCI.AND    CAI' TI Vi:S. 


Schuyler  arrived  in  Canada  as  ambassador  for  a  jveneral  ex- 
chano;e  of  prisoners.  Later  in  the  year,  Reverend  John  AVil- 
liams  and  Captain  John  vStoddard  were  in  Canada  on  asimihir 
errand. 

By  all  these  envoys,  a  special  demand  was  made  for  the  re- 
lease of  Eunice  Williams,  and  doubtless  for  Wheel wrij^ht's 
daughter;  and  Esther  received  pressinj^  letters  from  her  fam- 
ily urgino-  her  return.  This  is  the  first  record  of  letters  to 
Esther  from  her  family,  but  her  resolution  to  become  a  nun 
was  unshaken  by  them.  However,  lest  stron_i^er  temptation 
should  assail  the  youn*^  ncn'ice,  and  at  her  most  urg-ent  en- 
treaties, it  was  thought  best  to  shortcm  her  term  of  probation, 
the  circumstances  being  con.Mdered  by  all,  sufficiently  extra- 
ordinary to  warrant  this  exception  to  their  rules, — -the  only 
one  of  the  kind  ever  made  by  the  Ursulines  (;f  Quebec. 
Whether  the  (xovernor  wholly  approved  of  this  prcKX'cding, 
or  whether  in  this  instance,  the  state  succumbed  to  the  church, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  t)f  April,  1714,  the  Marc^uis  do 
Vaudreuil  with  his  brilliant  suite, — the  Piishopof  Canada  and 
the  dignitaries  of  the  church,  in  all  the  splendor  of  their 
priestly  vestments, — with  all  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  Que- 
bec, assembled  in  the  church  of  the  Ursulines,  which  was 
decorated  as  if  for  the  grandest  festival.  There  h^sther 
Wheelwright  was  invested  with  the  black  robe  and  veil  of 
their  order,  by  the  Si.sters  of  Saint  Ursula,  and  the  young 
New  England  captive,  known  thereafter  as  ^Mother  Esther 
Marie  Joseph  of  the  Infant  Jesus,  serenely  turned  her  face 
away  forever  from  her  childhood's  home  and  friends. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  passes  before  the  curtain  rises  again 
on  Esther  Wheelwright. 

It  is  just  one  hundred  years  since  the  Ursuline,  Marie  de 
rincarnation,  and  hc-r  sister  nuns  landing  at  Ouebec  from  a 
little  boat  "deeply  laden  with  salted    codfish,  on  which  un- 


MS'IIIKK    WllF.KI.WKKIII  T 


57 


cooked,  they  had  subsisted  for  a  fortnio;-ht fell  prostrate, 

and  kissed  the  saered  soil  of  Canada."' 

Just  a  hundred  years,  too,  sinee  the  Puritan  exile,  John 
Wheel wrij^i^ht  forr  ed  with  his  eonipanions  at  Exeter,  that 
remarkable  Conibination  for  self  j^^overnnient.''^ 

It  is  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1739.  For  a  year  by  prayer  and 
penanee  extraordinary,  the  Ursulines  of  Quebec,  have  been 
preparinu-  themselves  with  rapturous  devotion  to  celebrate 
worthily  the  centennial  anniversary  of  their  foundation.'' 

At  midnight  the  cathedral  bells,  echoed  by  a  ^ayer  peal 
from  the  convent,  announce  to  the  city  of  Ouebec,that  a  festi- 
val day  is  at  hand.  The  altars  of  the  Ursuline  church  are 
mat^nificently  decked.  The  freshly  gilded  altar  screen  re- 
flects the  lij^-ht  frt)m  hundreds  of  wax  tapers  blazing-  in  silver 
candlesticks.  From  four  in  the  morning  till  noon,  mass  is 
celebrated  uninterruptedly.  Processions  of  priests,  in  vest- 
ments stiff  with  g'old,  and  lace  from  the  looms  of  Europe, 
come  and  gx)  chanting  the  Te  Deum. 

As  the  day  declines,  the  plaintive  voices  of  the  nuns,  sluic- 
ing their  vesper  hymns,  steal  softly  from  behind  the  gri//i\ 

In  the  little  house  at  the  town's  end  in  Wells,  in  the  dim 
candle  light,  an  old  man,  and  his  old  wife  sit  alone  tog-ether. 
The  click  of  her  knitting  needles  is  in  sweet  accord  with  the 
scratch  of  his  quill,  while  he  writes  as  follows: 

"1  ccMiinu'iul  my  soul  io  (lod  my  Crcalor.  hoping  for  I'ardoii  of 
all  my  Sins,  and  everlasting  salvation  through  the  alone  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

'Parkmaii,  Jcsiiiis  in  \.  A.,  p.  1S2.  TIk-  ship  atuiioreil  at  Tadoussac. 
TliL'iice  the  iiiuis  proceeded  in  a  small  Ijoat  to  UiU'bec.  Marie  de  i'liicarna- 
tioii,  aged  39.  Mdlie.  de  la  Peltrie,  30.  Mere  St.  Croix,  30.  Marie  de  St.  Jo- 
seph, 22.      ^Idlle.  Charlotte  Harre,  18.     Indians  ran  along  the  shore. 

-'Monday,  June  5,   1639. 

■'Among  those  pioii^.  virgins  are  three  New  England  captives,  Esther  Wheel- 
wright, Mary  Anne  Davis,  and  Dorothee  Jeryaii,  whom  I  believe  to  be  Jordan. 


58  TRUE   STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND   CAI'TIVES. 


He  makes  his  wife,  Mary,  .sole  li^xecutrix  of  his  will,  and  be- 
queaths to  her  lands,  mills,  his  household  goods,  his  cattle  of 
all  kinds,  his  negro  and  mulatto  servants,  and  a  share  of  his 
money.  Then  his  thoughts  dwell  on  the  little  child,  long  ago 
so  cruelly  torn  from  him: 

"I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter  Esther  Wheelwright,  if  living  in 
Canada,  whom  I  have  not  heard  of  for  this  many  years,  ami  hath 
been  absent  for  more  than  30  yeares,  if  it  should  please  (rod  that 
She  return  to  this  country  and  settle  here,  then  my  will  is  that  my 
four  sons  viz:  John,  Sanniel,  Jeremiah  and  Nathaniel  each  of  them 
pay  her  Twenty  l""ive  pounds,  it  being  in  the  Whole  One  Hundred 
Pounds,  within  six  months  after  her  Return  and  Settlement." 

Captain  John  Wheelwright  died  Aug.  13,  1745. 

On  the  i^th  of  November,  1750,  his  widow  who  survived 
him  ten  years,  disposed  by  will  of  her  temporal  estate. 

She  bequeaths  to  her  four  sons,  "each  i)£  in  old  tenor  bills, 
or  the  value  thereof  in  lawful  money." 

To  her  daughters  Mary  Aloody  and  Sarah  Jefferds,  all  her 
"wearing  Apparell,"  including  her  "Gold  Necklace,  Rings 
and  Buttons  to  be  equally  divided  between  them,"  and  to 
Sarah  Jefferds  in  addition,  a  "negro  boy  named  Asher." 

Of  her  "Real  and  Per.sonal  Estate,  within  Doors  or  without," 
one  fourth  is  bequeathed  to  each  of  her  two  daughters  afore- 
said, one  fourth  to  her  "three  beloved  Grand-daughters," 
children  of  her  "deceased  daughter  Hannah  Plaisted,"  and 
one  fourth  to  her  "fcmr  beloved  Granddaughters,"  children 
of  her  "deceased  Daughter  Elizabeth  Newmarch." 

In  the  division  of  her  property,  her  "Negro  servant  Wom- 
an named  Pegg,  shall  be  Divided  to  such  of  my  Aforesaid 
Daughters  or  Granddaughters  which  .she  shall  choo.se  to  live 

with  after  my  Decease" and  "ftirthermore  Provided  my 

Beloved  Daughter  Esther  Wheelwright,  who  has  been  many 
years  in  Canada,  is  yet  living  and  should  by  the  wonder  wf)rk- 
ing  Providence  of  God  be  Returned  to  her  Native  Land,  and 


ESTHER    WHEliLWRIGHT, 


59 


tarry  and  dwell  in  it,  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  her,  one  Fifth 
part  of  my  Estate  which  I  have  already  by  this  Instrument 
will''  should  be  divided  to  and  among  my  afores''  Daughters 
and  Granddaughters,  to  be  paid  by  them  in  Proportion  to 
their  Respective  Share  in  the  above  mentioned  Division  unto 
her  my  vSaid  Daughter  Esther  Wheelwright,  within  one  year 
after  my  Decease  Anything  above  written  in  this  Instrument 
to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding."' 

It  would  seem  from  the  wills  of  Captain  John  Wheel- 
wright and  his  wife,  that  the  testators  did  not  know  that  their 
daughter  had  bound  hersslf  by  irrevocable  vows  to  a  monas- 
tic life.  The  History  of  the  town  of  Wells,  published  in  1875, 
confirms  this  opinion.  Its  author,  alluding  to  the  refusal  of 
some  New  England  captives  to  return  from  their  captivity, 

says,  "Esther  Wheelwright  was  one  of  the  number 

Whether  she  acquired  any  more  intimate  than  the  natural 
relationships  of  life,  does  not  appear  from  any  tradition  or 

written. relics  of  the  day vShe  wrote  to  her  father  from 

her  captivity.  He  lived  in  the  hope  that  she  would  come 
back,  and   provided  for  her  in  his  will,   in   the  event    she 

should  return  from  her  wandering  after  his  death the 

fate  of  all  humanity  may  have  overtaken  her  before    that 

time." On  the  contrary,  the  annalist  of  the  Ursulines 

states,  that  "Immediately  atter  Esther's  profession  as  a  nur., 
word  was  sent  to  her  family,  who  far  from  being  offended 
with  this  step  of  the  young  girl,  sent  her  a  messenger  from 
Boston,  charged  with  letters  and  gifts."  These  statements, 
both  made  by  respectable  authority,  are  irreconcilable.  Care- 
ful study  forces  me  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  annalist  of 
the  convent  records  actual  events,  of  which  at  the  date  of 
the  publication  of  the  history  of  Wells,  not  even  a  tradition 
remained  to  Wheelwright's  descendants  in  New  England. 

Imagine  the  stir  at  the  convent,  when  in  January,  1754,  a 

'"Maine  Wills."     Library  of  the  Hist,  and  Gen.  Soc.  Boston. 


6o  rki'K  sroKiES  ok  m:\v  enci.and  cai'TIVEs. 


yoiin<^  <;'entlcnian  from  IJoston  presented  himself  at  the  door, 
announein;^'  himself  as  the  nephew  of  Mother  Ivsther  of  the 
Infant  Jesus,  and  demandin;^'  an  interview  with  his  beloved 
aunt.  The  (hitter  of  the  Toitrilri}  the  hesitation  of  the 
Mother  .Superior,  the  hurried  eonsultation  of  all  in  authority, — 
may  be  better  imaj^'ined  than  deseribed.  After  some  delay, 
the  Bishop  kindly  o^ranted  entranee  to  Major  Wheelwrit;-ht, 
"hoping-  that  it  migdit  result  in  his  eonversion." 

How  one  longs  to  know  what  this  aunt  and  nephew,  meet- 
\\\<g  then  for  the  lirst  time,  had  to  say  to  eaeh  other, — in  what 
language  they  talked, — what  questions  were  asked  by  the 
eaptive  of  fifty  years. 

All  we  know  is,  that  at  his  departure,  the  young  man  gave 
to  his  aunt  a  miniature  portrait  of  her  mother,  and  present- 
ed the  Community  with  some  "fine  linen,  a  beautiful  silver 
flagon,  and  a  knife,  fork  and  spoon,  of  the  same  material."* 

At  the  moment  of  ]\Iajor  Wheelwright's  return  to  New 
England,  young  Major  Washington  was  making  his  report 
to  (lovernor  Dinwiddle,  of  the  refusal  of  the  Freneh  to  aban- 
don their  fort  at  the  headwaters  oi  the  Ohio.''  The  tardy  at- 
tempt of  the  English  in  the  following  February,  to  build  a 
fort  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,'  brought  on  a  skirmish  between 
Washington  and  the  Freneh  eommander,  whieh,  says  ]\Ir. 
Parkman,  "began  the  war  that  set  the  world  on  fire." 

'The  attendant  at  the  revolving  grille  at  which  all  visitors  to  the  convent 
apply  for  admission. 

■This  account  of  Major  Wheehvriifht's  visit  ma}' be  found  in  Histtjire  des 
Ursulines  de  Quebec,  p.  327,  Vol.  11.  Our  own  Archives  record  at  least  three 
journeys  of  Major  Nathaniel  VVheelwri,t(ln  to  Canada  as  ambassador  from  our 
Government  for  the  exchange  of  captives.  See  Appendix:  especially  Wheel- 
wright's letter  to  Gov.  Shirley,  dated  Nov.  30,  1750,  in  which  he  refers  to  his  em- 
bassy of  the  year  before.  From  this  it  would  seem  as  if  he  must  have  seen 
Esther,  previous  to  1754. 

'This  was  Fort  Le  Hcjcuf,  on  a  branch  of  the  Alleghany  near  Erie  and  with- 
in the  English  i)rovince  of  Virginia. 

^Pittsburg. 


'a^nm-tfy  J. 


^>*'^\\V     .A.; 


^mm 


'Jiv'>ULiNe 


/•>,. 


^^"JVf  fJT  AT    ;)UEBEC 


'"  ■<   '/.;■/,/, 


'■""■'■'•    ■"  'V-'  /i    A\-,-. 


-I/A 


.S'v/„/Y>-„/, 


tmrmxm.- ,m~ ,  \,  mggjj 


« 


'^^■'•nKR  \vi/|.:,.:,,WK„;,rr. 


l^evacatcl.     Ei.WUof  the    it     ^ '/r  '''''' '''^' "■'"•^■'"  "'"■''t 
Tho„j,h  there  i,  „„  ,  ,     live  n     %        T  '"  '"--'"'""  ''"  -h^"-^-e. 
that  Esther  of  tl,e  It,,'"'  ""'  '"'''■  '■'  '■'«■'"  '"  ^'L 
'he  fervor  „f  „  <lev.,tj      h  "    '/ure'r'  "  "'r^'"     ^^■"■ 
ne.s.s  „f  the  Wheelwri,.h<s     She  '""'  ""■'  '''■■="■'-«■ 

-;1  the  hfth  „„  the  li,st".f  rho-      ,      "  "'■"^•'^■■""■-  .--■^  "Id. 
At  sunset  of  the  ]-th   n   i 

Ursulines.  biddi,,,,  a  rd  l!!  L''f '/""•''  ,*7-  '^^ '  "''^  '■^'«'  "'  the 
'■ttle  band,  .sped  ,s;.iftly  .l  f,  '''•■"■'■■"  '"  '"c  e,„„,,ife„u,s 
Charles,  to  see- k  she  ter  i,   t"  '  '""'■'"""''^  "^  ">-  ^-'nt 

eral  Hospital.     The  X^^^  ^^"^^"^  ,t'-'-"  '"  the  ,;e„. 
fore  them.     The  Hospital  be  n^ol  '  '""  '""'''  "H'-e  be- 

was  the  reft,j,e  of  h.L^.^^^^^^'^^'!  "' '^^  P-'i'^^^.. 
the  ru,„s  of  tl,e  Lower  To„-„       ^     '    ''""«  '"  f'-'«ht  f>-om 

wi:;:f  ^.rinrit;:;";;  r-r-  -  '"^  -<  ^e. 

with  the  eare  of  the  „,ai„,ed        I ' ,    ''''■'    7?'  "'''^'"  •■""'  day. 
■ntervals,  the  quick  strX  of  t  e  t^''"""      ,'"'"'  '■"■'"'■^■■^-     A 
to  their  devotions,  gave  them     h  7'  '''"'  ^■^'"'"ff  them 

P'-ayers  rose  the  gn,a,s  t>^,  !  ''  T'^/  '''''■  ^^^"--  their 
-«1  .shell,  the  ro.a'  o^^.me  ',„,''',"' "''  ','"•  ^"■^■=""  "'  '^'-t 
'"if-  In  the  gray  of  the  rn'ri  „  'o,^?'"'''.  "'.  '''"'"^  '^'"M. 
ever  memorable  sieo-e  the  ttr    ^,  '  "'^"''"'  '^"y  "f  tlie 

diers,  elambered  up  m'e  't-  f  "^'  "'"  "^  '■^■"■"«t«'  -"l- 
haUle  on  the  Plains  of  A  rah-. m^'lr',""  ''"'"''"  '"  '"'^  "f 
n.S,'ht  gathered  on  that  C  &d\,  i™  '""  ■^'''•"'""'•^  »' 
America  was  virtually  ended   nfd'       '  ■^"™"  ^''■'''"■^  War  in 

or  England  was  to  be  mt tr'o  '  ^V'""''""  "'"''■■"'^'■F'-'-'"'--- 
settled.  '""''tet  of  this  eontinent  was  forever 

brea°hld'hril"r''Thfdal''l^'"'''  ?'  ^'"'''''   "ontealm 
Venturing  from  itJl^ZI;:^:^''  ''''''''■ 

cella,  of  the  monastery,  where 


f)2  rkHK   SroRIl'S   nV    NKW    KNCLAND   CAl'TIVKS. 


they  had  stayed  out  tlie  sir^c,  liisther  Wheelvvri<^ht  and  her 
companions  <j;azcd  upon  a  desolate  scene.  In  peril  of  their 
lives,  and  with  ^reat  labor  and  fatij^ue,  they  had  saved  most 
of  their  windows.  Their  cells  were  demolished,  their  chini- 
neys  battered  and  tumbling,  their  roofs  charred  and  riddled. 

Confusicm  reij^ned  everywhere.  No  workman  could  be 
found  to  make  a  eoffm  for  Montcalm.  Finally  old  Michel, 
factotum  and  general  overseer  at  the  Convent,  the  tears 
streaming  down  his  face,  nailed  together  a  rough  box  from 
the  di'hns  of  the  bombardment.  In  this  rude  casket,  at  nine 
o'clock  that  evening,  the  Marcjuis  de  Montcabn  was  carried 
to  his  rest. 

Silence  and  gloom  brooded  over  the  city.  "Not  a  drum 
was  heard, — nor  a  funeral  note."  No  gun  was  fired, — not  a 
bell  tolled.  Men  and  women,  wandering  dazed  among  the 
ruins,  fell  into  line  with  the  little  procession  that  bore  the 
dead  soldier  from  the  house  of  the  surgeon  Arnoux  to  his  bur- 
ial in  the  chapel  (^f  the  Ursulines.  Two  little  girls  stealing 
unnoticed  into  the  church,  stood  by  his  grave,  while  by  the 
flare  of  torches,  the  body  of  the  hero  was  lowered  into  a  hole 
in  front  of  the  altar,  made  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell.  The 
service  for  the  dead  was  chanted  by  three  priests.  The  quiv- 
ering voices  of  Esther  Wheelwright  and  her  sister  nuns 
were  heard  in  response,  then  sobs,  repressed  through  all  the 
horrors  of  the  siege,  burst  forth,  "for"  .says  the  annalist,  "it 
seemed  as  if  the  last  hope  of  the  colony  was  buried." 

General  Murrav,  who  was  left  in  command  of  the  Entrlish 
troops  in  Canada,  repaired  the  Ursuline  convent,  and  quar- 
tered there  a  part  of  his  wounded  men.  Esther  Wheelwright 
and  her  companions  cheerfully  assumed  the  duties  of  Hospi- 
tal nuns,  and  the  soldiers  proved  themselves  truly  grateful 
for  the  Christian  charity  thus  shown  them.  Among  the 
troops,  was  a  Scotch  regiment.     The  good  nuns  were  so  dis- 


"^«^ 


^3 


tressed  at  seein<r  tlu>  v,f,.  '^ " ~— — 

to  cov.,.  the  bare.  Ic.s  „f    he  W  «,".,,'!'"'''  '""«■  «-kin,'s 

•■"  '^'-"-'.     it  ™      ■,.'';: '^-^-'/^''-''-''tion  w..,ssi,ned 
""^"t  "f  Ihc  Catholic  rchV    ,      .  V""''"'"''  "'^-  f'-^'c  e„j„,. 

""'-.  ti.c,r  co„.stit„,i„„;;,t ' ,: ;" "" ":"  ^--mmitij  r 

Jcsus,wascIecle<lSupcri,M-„f    "',;''•■,':' "■•'-'''' "t  the  Infant 

S„p..e,nae>.  i„  Canada,  the  fust  (a'  0  itr'r'  "V""  '^"«^'»" 
'"  '>".■  IfrsulEncsof  Oiiebe,.  „-n       ,  ^'  ''"«''sli  .Superior 

'•■■""f  "f  1.-  robust  hSt   J  "t't'^t    *-"■'"'■     "^■■-  '-•ketion      ; 
P  --    in  l.or  by  the  Co,!,;  ,      ..'"";;• -""f  'he  eonhde,:: 

Alte,  the  fall  of  Quebee  r-,t; 
qnerors  for  the  .sub.s^tenc^''„         "'  "°''"'  '■^■■^""1  I'X  the  eo„ 
ore  Esthers  election.  o.Uw   ,"/""'"',"•     '"'''  >^"'-'-^vZ 
tl.e  convent,  General  Jlurr"  IT' "  "'^  ""-'  ■'ol'li'^rs  fro,„ 
"■^.ons  should  be  ft,r„i.  1  :.;  f^'  °'-dorc<I  that  „„  „,„,,  ''^ 

■"oney  ,st,eh  ropre,,entaU  j,s I  d  I  """'  T"'"'  '<"■  ''-y 
ta-n  :  r  "  P'-^'^Jocessor  in  office  th  a  ,""'"'' '°  "'"=  «'="''-aI 
tc  manded.  I„  the  .spring  after  1 1;,  '  ',"'*''  *'''■''  "'»«■ 
*  353.46.  was  rendered  bv  th,  ''":'■'''"'>'  election,  a  bill  of 

"■■^'-0  the  Co,„„.,nit3  C    O."™""^  '"'■  "■■""•-on.'ft   f 

''"'?'".  (Ihc  vc.r  ,  M  "t.  4.    1759,     to    M.-iy    3,      ,.^, 

-^^^;:*^:i:f  ■-' -Vw:-— ^i.!::: : 

t-'-   A.    li. 


^4  TkVV.    SI'OUIKS   OK    M-;\V    KNCI  AM)    CAI' II  VMS. 


Motlicr  Ksther  wrote  at  once  to  ricneral  Miin-ay,  statin;^-  the 
inability  of  the  nun;'  to  ])ay  the  debt  thus  eontracted;  at  the 
same  time  puttinjjf  at  the  disposal  of  the  j^overnment  eertain 
of  the  Community's  lands.  "Nevertheless."  she  adds,  "we 
hope  that  upon  the  representations  whicli  you  will  kindly 
make  in  our  bL-half.  his  Majesty  will  not  refuse  to  absolve  us 
from  this  debt.  In  our  (.•onfidrnec  in  your  {^-oodness.  of  which 
you  have  hitherto  y;iven  us  the  most  conx-incing'  proofs,  we 
assure  you  of  our  sincere  j^ratitude,  and  of  the  respect  with 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  cSrc,  6cc.,  c^c."  She  mij^'ht 
have  hinted,  that  the  shelter  and  care  j^iven  to  the  wound- 
ed ICu'j^lish  ou.u'lU  to  count  for  somethinj^  towards  the 
payment  of  the  debt.  In  the  interval  of  suspense,  while 
Murray  wrote  for  instrueticnis  to  ICn^'land,  Ivsther  wrote  to 
the  Mother  Community  in  Paris:  "We  shall  try  to  (h)  without 
evcrythin*;",  for,  (ov  some  years  we  shall  have  to  herq)  U[)  the 
interest  on  our  French  possessions,  to  pay  the  Kinj^  of  ICny;- 
land  whom  we  owe  thirteen  hundred  and  lifty-two  dollars." 

From  the  Capitulation  at  Montreal  to  the  Peace  of  Paris, 
the  lot  of  the  French  Canadians  was  hard.  A  soi'rowful 
suspense,  as  to  whether  Canada  would  be  restored  to  France, 
agitated  all  hearts.  In  \/Cu,  Esther  writes  to  the  Superior  at 
Paris,  "It  has  just  been  announced  to  us  that  peace  is  made, 
and  that  this  poor  country  is  restored  to  the  I'^rcnch.  I  hope 
it  may  be  true." 

The  non-arrival  of  letters  from  France,  caused  much  anxi- 
ety. In  October,  writinj^  a.^ain  to  Pcaris,  she  says,  "h>vcry- 
bodv  of  position  is  surprised  not  to  hear  a  word  by  way  of 
l'vny;lan(l,  thou.t^'h  many  laymen  have  received  letters.  I 
can  hardly  believe,  however,  that  some  are  intercepted,  uku'c 
than  others." 

A  later  letter  runs  thus:  "We  shall  very  soon  be  in  a  con- 
dition not  to  be  able  to  dress  ourselves  according  to  the  rules. 
Since  the  war,  we  are  especially  in  need  of  bombazine  for 


&-«:.'*  .  -^  "•* 


KS'l'IlKk    WIlKKl.WRKilll' 


^>5 


our  veils.  Indeed  the  need  is  so  pressing,  that  soon  we  sliall 
not  be  able  to  api^ear  deeently,  havinj;'  nothinj^  but  ra^s  to 
eover  our  heads.  We  eannot  bu)'  these  things  of  the  ICn;;'- 
lisli.  They  don't  yet  know  how  to  coil'fir  the  nuns.  T  think, 
my  dear  mother,  you  mi^ht  send  us  a  few  pieees  oi  bomba- 
zine by  some  of  our  Canadians,  who  must  return  to  their  poor 
eountry.  M.  de  l\oU\  ille  who  was  the  bearerof  your  letteivs, 
would  have  considered  it  a  pleasure  to  brinjjf  some  bomba- 
zine to  us,  and  could  have  done  so  without  murh  ti'ouble. 
There  is  i)lenty  of  food,  but  everythins^'  is  very  dear,  and  sil- 
ver is  very  scarce,  never  havinj;-  been  much  curi'cnt  in  Can- 
.nda." 

A  courteous  letter  from  dcneral  Murray  to  Mother  ICsther 
is  extant,  dated  Jan.  2nd,  17^)4,  thankin;^-  her  for  a  "Happy 
New  Year"  she  had  sent  him,  and  wishinj^-her  many  in  return. 
After  Murray's  return  to  P^n^land,  the  Mother  Superior  and 
sisters  send  him  j^ifts  of  their  own  beautiful  handiwork,  which 
he  acknowledt;-es  with  j^'raceful  compliments  and  more  than 
civil  expressions  of  esteem  and  friendship. 

The  first  days  of  April,  17^)4,  were  spent  by  Mother  Ivsther 
of  the  Infant  Jesus,  in  profound  retreat,  to  prepare  herself 
for  the  festivities  of  her  (xolden  Jubilee,  (the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  her  espousrds  as  the  bride  of  Christ,)  whit;h  occurred 
on  the  twelfth  of  April,  1764. 

Nothing;  was  omitted  in  the  celebration  of  I<2sther's  fiftieth 
year  ()<"  religious  profession  as  an  LTrsuline  nun,  to  convince  her 
of  the  love  and  appreciation  of  the  Community.  The  chapel 
was  beautifully  lighted  and  decorated.  After  the  public  re- 
newal of  her  vows  in  the  presence  of  the  Bishop  and  a  mul- 
titude of  people,  mass  was  celebrated  with  fine  organ  music, 
and  much  singing  of  motets.  A.  sermon  on  the  happiness 
of  a  religious  life  followed.  At  the  close  of  the  mass,  the 
nuns,  each  with  a  lighted  taper  in  her  hand,  sang  the  Tc 
Dciiin,  accompanied  by  a   flute   and   violin.     The    day   was 


wmm 


66 


IRUE    SroRIKS    OK    NKW    KN«;i,ANI)    CM' 11 VES. 


given  u\)  to  recreation  and  eonj^ratulation.  In  llie  Refec- 
tory, there  was  feasliny  and  joyful  conversation.  Tlie  t^'reat 
hall  was  t^ay  with  (lowers  and  j^ifts,  and  the  cliililren  of  the 
/ynisioii,  with  son<^'  and  dance,  brouj^ht  their  offerinj^s  to  tlieir 
beloved  Mother  Superior.  I^ate  in  the  afternoon,  a  benedic- 
tion service  was  held,  and  the  day  ended  with  jul)ilant  music 
of  drum  and  life. 

In  her  girlhood,  Ivsther  had  embroidered  much  for  the  al- 
tars. Seeing  at  this  time  the  <';reat  admiration  of  the  ICnglish 
for  embroidery  on  birch  bark,  she  encouraged  this  kind  of 
work  among  the  nuns,  and  gave  herself  up  to  it  with  incred- 
ible industry. 

In  May,  1761,  writing  to  the  Procurator  of  the  Ursulinesin 
Paris,  she  says,  "It  is  true  tliat  notwithstanding  our  misfor- 
tunes one  need  not  lack  the  necessities  of  life,  if  one  had 
plenty  of  money,  but  we  have  only  what  we  earn  by  onr  birch 
baik  wor':.  As  long  as  this  is  the  fashion,  the  money  we  earn 
by  it  is  a  great  help  tow^ards  our  support.  We  sell  it  at  a 
high  price  to  the  English  gentlemen,  yet  they  seem  to  con- 
sider it  a  privilege  to  buy,  so  eager  are  they  for  our  work. 
It  is  really  impossible,  for  us  notwithstanding  our  industry, 

to  supply  the  demand." "I   should  like  to  know,"  she 

continues,  alluding  to  their  indebtedness  to  the  gover.iment, 
"exactly  what  wall  be  left,  aft-^i  paying  Cai)tain  Barbutt.  Ac- 
cording to  v/hat  you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  write  me  on  this 
point,  we  shall  pay  some  debts  here, — for  we  are  not  lacking 
in  debts,  and  some  pretty  large  ones.  Nobody  but  myself, 
however,  knows  abcnit  them,  and  I  am  in  no  hurry  to  acquaint 
the  Community  with  the  fact,  for  fear  of  distressing  them." 
This  extract  shows  her  self-reliance,  and  her  tender  consid- 
eration for  her  sister  nuns,  in  sparing  tb^nn  anxieties  which 
weighed  heavily  or  ner  ow-^.  hcai-t. 

Too  constant  use  of  her  e\es,  brought  on  in  her  declining 
years,  weakness  o'"  sight  and  disease.     When  she  could  no 


y. 


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/.  v.- 

of  i]nuu   ■ 
IV.  In  •■ 


■'"'"'^    .r;u.!-:  Liu  n-' 


'VMEEL//f.;|,J||r  CuAr    of  Al'f, 


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^   .  _.rt»;.-i;-J**.-»j''r-^:saW--»«I:.^.-^V'^:«3VS 


^■**"**'  ■*"■ '  ■'***"fel 


r    r    T    tSoS.^^'-V  /  T  ■  T    X    ,. 


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^mmmift- 


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KsriiER  wiii'.KLW  Kicirr 


67 


lonsjfer  embroider  exquisitely,  she  busied  herself  with  mend- 
ing' the  underelothing  of  the  Community,  showinj^'  the  same 
skill  and  delieaey  in  darning-  and  patehing"  that  eharaeterized 
her  more  beautiful  handiwork. 

For  nearly  seventy  years,  Esther  Wheelwright  fulfilled 
with  fervor  and  fidelity,  aH  the  duties  of  a  monastie  life.  No 
one  was  more  serupulous  in  the  observanee  of  all  its  rules. 
In  the  feebleness  of  age,  as  in  the  vigor  of  youth, — in  sum- 
mer's heat  and  winter's  eold,  she  was  always  in  her  plaee. 
In  learning'  to  obey,  she  learned  to  eommand.  x\s  a  teaeher 
of  young  girls,  she  was  very  sueeessful.  Her  happy  disposi- 
tion and  sweet  temper,  made  her  example  even  more  elo- 
quent than  her  preeepts.  With  her,  forbearanee  and  gentle- 
ness, with  the  most  eharming  politeness,  took  the  plaee  of  a 
strieter  discipline,  and  never  failed  to  win  the  love  and  obe- 
dience of  her  pupils.  She  was  promoted  to  her  responsible 
position  as  vSuperior,  at  the  most  critical  epoch  in  the  history 
of  her  adopted  country.  French  in  all  her  sympathies, — a 
Romanist  of  undoubted  zeal, — yet,  undaunted  by  embarass- 
ments  to  which  a  woman  of  less  strength  and  breadth  of 
character  would  have  yielded,  she  so  adapted  herself  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation  as  to  win  for  herself,  and  the  Com- 
munity, the  favor  and  respect  of  the  conquerors. 

In  1766,  the  rules  of  her  Order  not  allowing  her  re-election 
for  a  third  successive  term,  she  was  discharged,  but  again  re- 
elected in  1 769.  She  was  then  seventy-two  years  of  age, — 
but  her  mind  and  heart  never  grew  old. 

In  1 77 1 ,  writing  to  the  Mother  .Superior  of  Paris,  she  says,  'I, 
beg  you  to  accept  the  assurance  of  our  most  tender  attach- 
ment. I  wish  I  could  give  you  some  proof  of  it,  other  than 
by  words,  but  we  cannot  even  find  a  way  to  send  you  those 
trifles  from  this  country,  which  we  used  to  take  pleasure  in 
sending  you.  In  our  prayers,  you  alwa^^s  have  a  large  share. 
Pray  for  me  that  God  in  his  infinite  mercy  may  grant  me  a 


x:^z 


•m-'w 


■MM! 


68 


riaiE  sroRiKs  ov  new  kxgland  cai'tives. 


happy  death."  In  ( )cl()l)c'r,  1772,  it  was  feared  that  Mother 
I'vStlier  would  not  li\-e  till  the  Deeeniber  eleetions.  vShe  ral- 
lied, however,  and  on  the  15th  was  honorably  disehar<;'ed  from 
the  superiorship,  only  to  be  made  Assistant  Superior,  and  six 
years  later  Zelatrix. 

At  S  o'eloek  in  the  evenin*;-  of  the  2Sth  of  Oetober,  17S0, 
I'lsther  Wheelwrij^ht  died,  at  the  ay;e  of  eio'hty-four  years  and 
eii^'ht  months.  '\She  died  as  she  had  lived,"  says  the  annalist, 
"in  eontinual  aspirations  towards  Heaven,  repeating'  uneeas- 
ini;-])'  some  verses  of  the  Psalms 

ller  caneestors  were  noble,  but  her  heart  was  nobler  still, 
and  the  memory  of  her  virtues  will  be  forever  dear  to  this 
House From  1712  to  17S0,  she  was  one  of  its  finest  or- 
naments and  firmest  supports." 

'J'he  name  of  Wheehvri^i^ht  is  still  revereneed  by  the  l^rsu- 
lines  of  Ouebee.  At  the  eonvent  to-da}  ,  they  tell  you  with 
pride  of  the  ^-ifts  bestowed  on  them  by  Esther's  eousin  and 
fellow  eaptive,  Mary  Saver.' 

'J'he  silver  llaj^'on  presented  by  Major  Wheelwrif^ht  is  still 
in  use  in  their  Infirmary,  and  the  miniature  of  Msther  Wheel- 
wrij^iit's  nn^ther,  a  blonde  with  hazel  eyes  and  an  oval  faee,  is 
saeredly  preserved.  Retouehed  by  the  addition  of  a  veil  and 
drapery,  and  enelosed  in  a  riehly  embossed  frame,  eontainin<^ 
also  four  relies  of  the  vSaints,  it  is  now  reverently  eherished 
as  a  Madonna. 

I  have  been  permitted  to  stand  in  the  inner  ehapel  of  the 
Ursulines  at  Ouebee  above  the  spot  where  the  mortal  part  of 
l^sther  Wheel wri-'h.  lies  buried. 

My  fondest  ambition  in  writing-  this  story  is  that  in 
some  hour  of  reereation,  it  may  be  read  to  the  noviees  by 
the  Mother  Assistant,  who  entering  the  eonvent  fifty  years 
ago,  fcmnd  there  as  a  nun,  the  little  girl  who  saw  the  burial 
of  Montealm,  and  later  was  an  inmate  of  the  eonvent,  during 
the  last  seven  years  of  Esther  Wheelwright's  life. 

'See  "Story  of  a  York  Family." 


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TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  at  that  time  Governor  of  Plymouth, 
was  living  there  the  listless  life  of  a  garrison  oflficer.  Into 
the  gubernatorial  mansion  on  the  Hoe  he  took  three  of  Wey- 
mouth's Indians,  had  them  taught  English  and  kept  them 
three  years.  Did  anybody  ever  compute  the  influence  of 
these  "three  little  Indian  boys"  on  our  history?  They  told 
him  about  the  "stately  islands,"  "safe  harbors"  and  "great 
rivers"  of  their  native  land,  and  inspired  him  to  plant  .  ~1- 
ony  there.  "This  accid_  it,"  says  Sir  Ferdinando,  "was  .xu 
means  under  God  of  putting  on  foot  and  giving  life  to  all  our 
plantations." 

Being  a  man  of  wealth,  rank  and  influence,  he  easily  se- 
cured the  co-operation  of  vSir  John  Popham,  Lord  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  England.  How  the  Popham  colony,  planted  by  the 
Plyiriouth  Company  in  August,  1607,  on  the  Kennebec  river, 
starve!  with  the  cold  the  first  winter, — how  Jamestown,  the 
offspring  of  the  London  Company,  thanks  to  a  milder  clime, 
survived, — how  Capt,  John  Smith,  "a  fugitive  slave,"  as  Mr. 
Palfrey  happily  calls  him,  after  founding  the  Old  Dominion, 
sailed  up  and  down  the  New  England  coast,  printed  lavish 
praise  of  its  resources,  and  made  a  map  of  all  its  capes,  in- 
lets, islands  and  harbors,  to  which  Prince  Charles  gave  the 
familiar  names  they  bear  today, — ^how  Gorges,  not  doubting 
that  God  would  effect  that  which  mxan  despaired  of,  was  a 
part  of  every  scheme  of  colonization: — all  this  is  known  to 
every  careful  reader  of  our  history. 

It  was  doubtless  under  the  auspices  of  Gorges  that  the  first 
English  settlement  at  Agamenticus  was  made,  and  when  in 
1635,  the  charter  of  New  England  was  surrendered  to  the 
crown  and  its  territory  parcelled  out  among  the  patentees, 
Gorges  received  the  territory  between  the  Merrimac  and  the 
Kennebec,  extending  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  inland. 
With  this  province  of  Maine,  the  Crown  conferred  upon  him 
almost  unlimited  power  and  privilege. 


STORY   OF  A   YORK    FAMILY. 


71 


A' 

i 

I 
I 


Mr.  Bancroft  says  of  Sir  Ferdinando,  "The  friend  and  co 
temporary  of  Raleigh,  he  adhered  to  schemes  in  America  for 

ahnost  half  a  century and  was  still  bent  on  coloniza- 

tion,  at  an  a-e  when  other  men  are  but  preparing  to  die  with 
"^.^^"^^^"^ Like  another  Romulus,  this  septuagena- 
rian royalist and  veteran  soldier  resolved  to  perpetuate 

his  name,"  and  in  1642  the  ancf.nt  Agamenticus  became  the 
city  (.orgeana,  '  "As  good  a  city,"  says  Bancroft,  "as  seals 
and  parchment,  a  nominal  mayor  and  alderman,  a  chancerv 
court  and  a  court  leet,  sergeant  rolls  and  white  rods  can  make 
ot  a  town  of  less  than  300  inhabitants." 

In  the  King's  patent  to  Gorges  it  had  been  expressly  stip- 
ulated that  Episcopacy  should  be  the  established  religion  of 
his  province.  s     ^  ^a 

In  1643  John  Wheelwright,  removing  from  Exeter  to  es 
cape  the  bigotry  of  the  Bay  settlements,  l)etook  himself  to  a 
tract  adjoining  Agamenticus,  which  he  bought  of  Gorges  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Wells.  ^  '  >  ^" 

The  same  ymr  Plymouth  and  the  Bay  Colony  made  a  league 
..th    Connecticut  ana   New  Haven    for   mu^.al  protectfon 
Those  of  Sir   Ferdinando  Gorges  his  province  .    .       were 
not  received  or  called  into  the  Confederation,"  writes"  Win 
throp,  "because  they  ran  a  different  course  from  us,  both  in 
their  ministo^  and  civil  administration,  for  thev  h^d  latelv 
mac  e  Accominticus  (a  poor  village)  a  corporation,  and  had 
made  a  taylor  the  mayor,  and  had  entertafned  on^  Hull  an 
^xcommiuiicated  person,  and  very  contentious,  for  their  min 
st  p     ,^'^^'''\^''^'  "^^y  have  been  the  faults  and  follies  of 
bii  Ferdinando  we  cannot  help  admiring  his  persistence-his 
Mekong  devotion  to  the  great  idea  of  colonizing  Ne"   En^ 

and^c^ed  tf  "T  ^"  ^^^^^^"^^^^^  ^-^^^^t  with  the  cavaliers 
and  died  before  the  execution  of  the  King.  The  population 
of  the  ancient  city  wa.  increased  by  the  accession  of  a  con 


■uJUpIWI 


72  TRUE   STORIIiS   OF    NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


tingent  of  vScotcli  prisoners  taken  by  Cromwell  in  his  famous 
victory  over  Charles  II,  at  Dunbar  in  1650.  These  v/ere 
shipped  over  seas  to  be  sold  as  apprentices  for  a  term  of  years, 
and  naturally  found  a  home  in  the  plantation  of  the  royalist 
Gorges.  Scotland  Parish  is  to-day  a  thriving  and  interesting 
locality  of  the  old  town,  and  the  names  of  Mclntyre,  Junkins 
and  Donald  still  survive  there. 

Old  York  is  now  New  York.  Many  of  its  old-time  houses 
have  been  drummed  out  by  the  so-called  march  of  improve- 
ment. The  straggling  cottages  of  the  fishermen  have  disap- 
peared from  the  landscape.  The  winding  cowpath  along  the 
cliff,  through  bayberry  bushes  ?nd  sweet-briar  roses,  has  been 
supplanted  by  the  smooth-clipped  lawns  of  costly  seashore 
estates,  packed  in  too  close  proximity  to  one  another  along 
the  water  front.  The  rugged  face  of  the  cliff,  over  which  the 
woodbine  and  beach  pea  used  to  scramble,  is  now  disfigured 
by  the  unsightly  waste  pipes  of  modern  improvement  that 
wriggle  like  so  many  foul  ser  oents  to  bury  themselves  be- 
neath the  ocean.  Pretentious  hotels  and  livery  stables  ob- 
trude themselves  upon  the  moorlands,  where  the  "fresh 
Rhodora"  used  to  spread  its  "leafless  bloom." 

College  youths  in  yachting  costume  and  city  belles  with 
tennis  rackets,  flirt  harmlessly  on  the  beach  at  bathing  time, 
and  in  the  late  afternoon,  the  brilliant  parasols  of  the  gay 
butterflies  of  fashion  flutter  far  afield,  and  prancing  steeds 
with  glistening  trappings  curvet  over  the  rocky  roads  under 
the  guidance  of  liveried  coachmen.  On  Sunday,  a  crowd  in 
silk  attire,  with  gilded  prayerbooks,  wends  its  way  to  a  little 
church  whose  golden  cross  towers  aggressively  above  the 
rock-bound  coast. 

"Behold!"  cries  the  Puritan  antiquary,  "the  fulfilment  of 
Sir  Ferdinando's  dream."  Then  he  turns  away  to  the  river 
bank,  where  to  this  day  may  be  seen  the  veritable  streets  of 
the  "Ancient  city"  as  laid  out  by  Thomas  Gorges,  its  first 


-■j'-i 


^•^■ 


i'\b  t     r'.'     in.'"' 


fe 


n-.r  JUf.'KiM';  GARRiEorj  Mouse 

BUM  I     tM    1679 

/■>•,'///  />   f,„:,ili>ii:    'C  Siisnn  .]/,„„/  }.„,„■   /,i75 


-^m  ■>"  ■■^■■»fc-'f»     • 


'■^'!S»-»Ji. 


WBmmammm^ii„r^jx~ 


•SroRV   OF   A    YORK    FAMrf.V 


73 


mayor.     Pursuinjr  his  history,  he  reads  that  at  Sir  Ferdinan- 
do  s  death  the  pe<,ple  of   (lorc^eana  wrote  repeatedly  to  h\ 
W  n   '"^'"'^^''^-•^i""•^'  ^-t  -eeivin^  no  answer  they,  w 
Wells  and  P.seataqua.  formed  themselves  into  a  body  po.itie 
for  self-jr,jvernment.  ^  p^nuc 

In  .652  Massaehusetts  assumed  eontrol  of  the  settlement 
the  cty  eharter  was  annulled  and  Gor^reana.  degraded  from 
her  eommanding  position  as  the  first  ineorporated  eity  in 
Ameriea,  joined  the  rank  and  file  of  New  England  towns  un- 
der the  name  of  York. 

The  alarm  of  Philips  war  in  ,675,  extending  to  the  east- 
ward, the  distressed  inhabitants  built  garrison  houses  against 
Indian  attack.     Two,  known  as  the  Junkins  garrison  aifd  the 

Parish  of  Old  York  as  late  as  .875.  Of  the  former  not  a  ves- 
tige now  remains,  exeept  a  panel  that  forms  a  eupboard  door 
in  i*  rary  house. 

The  first  blow  struek  by  the  enemy  in  the  old  Freneh  and 
Indian  war  fell  upon  the  eastern  towns.  At  the  instigation 
of  the  Jesuit  priests,  Wells,  York.  Berwick.  Kittery  and  others 
received  their  baptism  of  blood  at  the  hands  of  the  French 

r!  Sfield.'^^"  '^'°"  ^^^^"'^^''  ''''''^'''  Northampton 
On  the  same  page  in  the  parish  records  of  Canadian 
towns  and  villages,  I  have  often  found  the  deaths,  marriages 
and  baptisms  of  hapless  captivec,  carried  from  the  border 
towns  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts.  This  is  why  I  tell  the 
story  of  a  York  family.  ^ 

Edward  Rish  worth,  or  Rush  worth  as  the  name  is  known 
m  England,  the  friend  and  son-in-law  of  John  Wheelwright 

Thomrr^'""""  '\""''''  ""'  ""^  °^  ''''  S'^^'^^'  to  whom 
t?iav  n^,t  T ''  """^r  "^  ^''  Ferdinando,  gave  authority 
to  lay  out  and  assign  lots  at  Wells 

In  the  history  of  both  Wells  and   York,  his   intellectual 


74  TRUK   sroRIKS   OK    NEW    KN(;LAN1)    CAl'TIVKS. 


ability  is  prominent.  lie  was  one  of  the  commissioners  of 
the  newly  made  town  of  York  and  clerk  of  the  court  there  the 
same  year. 

In  the  prolonged  resistance  of  the  Province  of  Maine  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  Rishwortli  was  prominent. 
His  commandinjjf  intellij^ence  and  his  personal  influence  in 
the  province  is  shown  in  the  humble  petitiott  of  the  leadin}^ 
men  of  Wells,  in  i66S,  to  be  restored  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
Massachusetts,  with  apoloj^ies  for  their  former  disol)edience, 
the  pet" tioners  assij^ninj^  as  the  cause  of  their  dereliction,  the 
influence  of  Mr.  lulward  Rishworth,  they  "havinjj;'  been  well 
affected  with  said  Rishworth,  and  confidinj^  in  liim." 

Rishworth  was  appointed  Rectirder  for  the  province,  in 
October,  1651,  and  held  the  office  continuously,  excpt  in 
1668  and  9,  for  thirty-three  years.  In  June,  1686,  Rishworth 
wrote  his  last  official  line,  being  then  an  old  man. 

The  name  of  his  wife,  Susannah,  appears  on  a  legal  paper 
for  the  last  time  in  1675.  vSo  far,  I  have  found  but  two  chil- 
dren of  Edward  and  vSusannah  Rishworth,  daughters  Mary 
and  Susannah.  Her  grandfather  Wheelwright,  in  his  will 
dated  Nov.  15,  1679,  names  "my  son-in-law,  Edward  Rish- 
worth," and  "my  grandchild,  Mary  White,  daughter  of  ye 
said  Rishworth."  This  proves  that  Mary  Rishworth,  then 
about  eighteen,  was,  at  this  date,  the  wife  of  one  White. 

I  assume  that  this  White,  and  Rishworth's  wife  had  both 
died  before  October,  1682,  when,  as  he  says,  for  "diver's  good 
cau.ses and  more  espetially  for  yt  tender  love  and  affec- 
tion which  I  beare  unto  my  beloved  daughter,  Mary  Sayword, 
wife  to  John  Sayword,"  he  conveyed  all  his  property  to  his 
"sonn-in-law,  John  Sayword,"  for  £60,  to  be  used  in  the  pay- 
ment of  Rishworth's  debts. 

At  the  same  time,  Sayword  gives  his  bond,  "to  pay  unto 

father  Rishworth the  just  some  of  six  pounds  per  Ann  : 

to  bee  pay'd  in  good  Mrehan'ble  pay,  boards,  provisions,  or 


^^ 


t  —  u  "J  t-mmm^mmmmmtm 


4 


STo.xV    OK   A    VORK    FA.MII.V.  -- 

such  other  g-oods  as  his  ocifionc  i    i  .  " 

tain  s,I  kislnv„rtl,  '  ,  /'         ^•'y"'"''  i«  t"  mayn- 

I,  as  yet,  find  no  record  of  TmI-,,-.   q„  i.     ,  . 

entag-e.     He  mav  hat^  .         ^'^^'^yword  s  birth  and  par- 

&        AiL.  may  nave  been  the  son  of  Houv.r  y^  \ 

promment  man  in  the  annals  of  Wells  and  York      mu        \  ' 
IS  a  eommon  appendage  to  the  names    f  W  Millwright 

period,  for  men  must  en/.,  ii^?  """^  '"''"  °f  *at 

in  York,  where  tZc;'?  "'  ^'^'^'-^l-    The  mill  pond 

and  sawed  t^e  /umber  r^i     ""''  '""''"  J-'^'^-^h^ /ri.sts 
known.  '  '°'  "''^  '^""'"'■y  "■""-'I  about,  i.'well 

We  have  a  grant  from  the  town  of  York  t„  t  i      o 
dated  Dec.  ,o,   ,68o,  of  three  Taere  lo        f  I     J?  ^"^^''"'• 
privilege  and  timber  rights  eo'ndMrn.H        l    ""f  ""'"  "'" 
leries  and  seats  in  the  meedng  house       °"  ""  """'''•'g  S^'- 

■■first  that  the  Said  Sayword,  shall  huild  or  cause  to  bee  built  a. 


Hinin^K==^i^'^winSSawBMHMw5im!ft^ 


76  lUUK    sroRIKS    OK    NKW    ENGLAND   CAI'TIVP:S. 

ye  meeting  house  at  York,  three  sufficient  (lallerys,  with  three  con- 
vcniciU  scats  in  each  (iallcry  anil  one  beancli  i)csiile,  in  ye  hyest 
Rownie  in  every  j^allcry  If  the  sti  C'onvenicnry  of  Rowine  will  hare 
it,  the  fronlure  seats,  hee  is  to  make  with  barreste'h,  am!  two  peyre 
of  stayrs  to  ^o  up  into  the  jjallerys,  one  ft)r  ye  men  and  anothe"*  for 
the  winiine.  Second  :  The  sd  John  Sayword  stands  Injjajjd,  to  seat 
the  sd  Meetiiiji;  house  bjlow,  with  convenient  Seates,  too  Seates  to 
be  barrestreil  below,  one  for  men  and  ye  other  for  wimine  ;  and  re- 
payreinji  of  ye  ilefects  yt  are  in  the  ould  Seates,  and  by  make*'  jj 
and  adding  so  many  more  new  Seates,  as  shall  be  necessary  for  ye 
full  and  decent  seateing  of  the  whoole  house.  Which  worke  in  mak- 
ing of  Chdlerys  and  seateing  the  lower  part  of  the  sayd  house,  is  by 
John  Sayword  to  bee  done  and  finisheil  at  his  own  proper  Charge, 
(naylcs  onely  excepted)  which  the  Town  is  Ingag'd  to  provide,  very 
speedily,  at  or  before  the  last  of  October  next  Insewing,  Ann  :  Dom  ; 
1681. 

There  is  a  deed  signed  by  Sayword,  Mareh  24,  1684,  and 
also  by  "Mary  Sayword,  the  younger."  As  I  eannot  stippose 
this  to  be  his  daughter  Mary,  (then  only  thirteen)  it  mtist  c 
his  wife,  m'e  Mary  Rishworth,  who  on  this  oeeasion  signs 
herself  Mary  "the  younger,"  to  distingtiish  herself  from  his 
mother  Mary,  whieh  again  inclines  me  to  the  belief  that  John 
Sayword  was  son  of  Henry,  whose  wife  Mary  long  survived 
him.  John  Sayword  probably  died  early  in  December,  16(89  ; 
f(^r  on  Christmas  Day  of  that  year,  whieh  was  neither  a  holy 
day  nor  a  holiday  with  the  Puritans,  Mrs.  Mary  Sayword  ap- 
peared and  took  oath  to  the  inventory  of  her  husband's  es- 
tate, which  was  valued  at  ^85. 

She  was  administratrix,  and  with  Matthew  Austin,  gave  a 
bond  for  £\66,  for  the  lawful  administration  of  her  husband's 
estate.  How  soon  after  Sayword's  death  his  widow  became 
the  wife  of  one  Hull,  does  not  yet  appear,  but  as  we  have 
seen,  she,  as  Mary  Hull,  testified  to  the  inventory  of  her  fa- 
ther's estate,  on  Feb.  25,  1690-91  [see  ante].  Her  connection 
with  Hull  must  have  been  brief,  for  at  the  time  of  the  attack 


STORY   OK   A    YORK    I'AMII.N. 


n 


on  York,  l'\'l).  5,  1692,  M  .ry  Rishworth,  tlieii  l)Ul  thirty-two 
years  old,  was  living  with  her  fourth  husband,  James  IMaisted. 
Of  Plaisted's  aneestry  or  antecedents,  or  of  tlie  date  of  liis 
inarriage  to  the  younj^  widow  Hull,  I  have  so  far  found 
nothinj^. 

Of  the  calamity  at  York,  i-'el).  5,  1692,  Cotton  Mather  writes  : 
"Oreat    was    the    share    that  fell  to  the   l''aiiiily  of    Mr.  Sluihiiel 

Dununer He  had  been  solicited,  with   many  temptations  to 

leave  his  i'lace  when  the  ("loads  grew  I'hick  and  iilack  in  the  In- 
dian  Hostilities,  but  he  chose  rather  with  a   I'aternal   affeclicjn  to 

stay In  a  word,  he  was  one  that  might  l)y  way  of  Hniinency 

be  calletl  A  (rood  Man He  was  just  going  to  take   Horse  at 

his  own  Door,  upon  a  journey  in  the  Service  of  Ood,  when  the  Ty- 
gres  t'  t  were  making  their  Depredations  upon  the  sheep  of  York, 
sei.  I  upon  this  their  shephertl;  and  they  shot  him  so  that  they  left 
him  Dead." 

His  wife,  Susannah  Rishworth,  sister  of  Mary  Rishworth 
Plaisted,  "they  carried  into  captivity,"  continues  Mather, 
"where  through  sorrows  and  hardships  among  those  Dragons  of  the 
Desart,  she  also  quickly  Died;  and  his  Church  as  many  of  them  as 
were  in  that  Captivity,  endured  this  among  other  ai;guishes,  that  on 
the  next  Lord's  Day,  one  of  the  Tawnies  chose  to  exhibit  himself 
unto  them  [A  Devil  as  an  Angel  of  Light!]  in  the  Cloaths  whereof 
they  had  stript  the  Dead  Body  of  this  their  Lather — Many  were  the 
tears  that  were   Dropt  throughout  New  England  on  this  occasion." 

Mather  calls  the  York  minister, 

"The  Marlyr'd  Pelican,  who  Bled 
Rather  than  leave  his  charge  unfed. 
A  proper  Bird  of  Paradise 
Shot, — and  Flown  thither  in  a  trice." 

James  Plaisted's  wife  was  taken,  with  her  two  childrer, 
Mary  and  Esther  Sayword,  aged  respectively  eleven  and 
seven,  and  her  baby  boy.     This  is  Mather's  relation: 

"Mary  Plaisted,  the  wife  of  Mr.  James  Plaisted,  was  made  a  cap- 
tive, about  three  weeks  after  her  Delivery  of  a  male  Child.     They 


-r 


78 


TRUE   STORIES   OK   NEW   ENGLANl)   CAl'TIVES. 


then  took  her,  with  her  Infant  off  her  bed  and  forced  her  to  travel 
in  this,  her  weakness,  the  best,  part  of  a  Day  without  any  Respect 
of  Pity.  At  Nig^n  the  CoUl  ground,  in  the  Open  Air,  was  her  Lodg- 
ing; ind  for  many  a  Day  she  had  no  Nourishment  l)ut  a  little  water 
with  a  little  Hear's  Klesh,  which  rendered  her  so  Feeble  that  she, 
\*'th  her  Infant  were  not  far  from  totally  starved. — Upon  her  cries 
to  Ciod,  there  was  at  length  some  supply  sent  by  her  Master's  tak- 
ing a  Moose,  the  Broth  whereof  recovered  her.  But  she  must  now 
Travel  many  Days  through  Woods  and  Swamps  and  Rocks,  and 
over  Mountains,  anil  I'Vost,  and  Snow,  until  she  could  stir  no  far- 
ther. Sitting  down  to  Rest,  she  was  not  able  to  rise,  till  her  Dia- 
bolical Master  helped  her  up,  which,  when  he  diil,  he  took  her  Child 
from  her,  and  carried  it  unto  a  River,  where,  stripping  it  of  the  few 
Rags  it  had,  he  took  it  by  the  heels  and  against  a  Tree  dash'd  out 
its  Brains,  and  then  Hung  it  into  the  River.  So  he  returned  unto 
the  miserable  mother,  telling  her  she  was  now  Ivised  of  her  Burden, 
and  must  walk  faster  than  she  did  before!  " 

Was  this  infant  the  posthtimous  son  of  her  third  husband, 
Hull?  He  does  not  appear  on  the  old  York  records  among 
the  children  of  James  Plaisted. 

A  native  poet  has  thus  immorralized  the  attack  on  York: 

They  marched  for  two  and  twenty  dales. 

All  through  the  deepest  snow; 
And  on  a  dreadful  winter  morn, 

They  struck  the  cruel  blow. 

Hundreds  were  murihered  in  their  beddes, 

Without  shame  or  remorse; 
And  soon,  the  floors  and  roads  w',re  strewed 

With  many  a  bleeding  corse. 

The  village  soon  began  to  blaze, 

To  heighten  misery's  woe; 
But,  O,  I  scarce  can  bear  to  tell. 

The  issue  of  that  blow! 


They  threw  the  infants  on  the  (ire; 

The  men  they  did  not  spare; 
But  killed  all,  which  they  could  find 

Though  aged,  or  though  fair. 


STORY   OF   A    YORK    FAMILY, 


79 


Our  next  meeting  with  Mary  Rishworth  Pkiisted  is  at  her 
baptism  in  Montreal.  The  following  is  a  free  translation  of 
the  Parish  reeord: 

'>n  the  8th  of  l)ei;eniber,  1693,  there  was  baptized  sous  conditio'., 
an  i..ijrlisli  woman  from  New  England,  named  in  her  own  country, 
Marie,  wh(j  horn  at  York  on  the  8th  of  January  O.  S.  1660,  of  the 
marriage  of  Kdouard  Rishworth,  and  Suzanne  Willwright,  both  Pro- 
testants of  Lincohi  in  old  England,  and  married  last  to  Jacques 
Pleisted,  Protestant  of  New  England,  was  captured  the  25th  of  Jaii- 
uary  O.  S.  of  the  year  1692  with  two  of  her  children,  Marie  (renevieve 
Sayer  born  the  4th  of  April  O.  S.  1681,  and  Marie  Joseph  Sayer, 
born  the  9th  of  March  O.  S.  1685, — by  the  savages  of  Acadia,  and  now 
lives  in  the  service  of  Madame  Catherine  (lauchet,  widow  of  M. 
Jean  Baptiste  Migeon,  appointed  by  the  King  first  lieutenant  gen- 
eral of  the  bailiwick  established  by  his  Majesty  in  Montreal.  Her 
name  Marie,  has  been  kept,  and  that  of  Madeleine  added  to  it.  Her 
god-father  was  M.  Jean  Baptiste  Juchereau,  lieutenant-general  of 
the  Royal  bailiwick  of  Montreal,  and  her  god-mother,  Madame  Made- 
leine Eouise  Juchereau. 

Signed. 

Mary  Magdalen  Pleistead  signs  the  reeord  in  a  good  hand- 
writing. So  also  do  her  god-parents,  Jtichereau  and  Madame, 
his  wife,  Catherine  Gauchet,  and  iinally  Jean  Fremont,  Cure 
— ^all  as  clear  as  if  written  yesterday.' 

Two  lists  in  our  archives  tell  briefly  the  story  of  the  final 
separation  of  Mary  Rishworth  Plaisted  from  these  Sayword 
children,  one  is  the  "Names  of  English  captives  Redeemed 
from  Quebec  by  Math'w  Carey  in  Oct'br,  1695,"  which  con- 

'The  information  conveyed  by  this  simple  baptismal  record  is  remarkable. 
It  gives  the  date  of  the  captive's  birth,  atid  consequently  her  age  when  taicen; 
her  mother's  name,  about  which  historians  disagree, — the  home  of  her  father 
and  mother  in  both  Old  England  and  New, — the  fact  of  her  marriage  to  Plaisted 
before  her  capture, — the  dates  of  the  births  of  her  daughters  and  by  inference 
their  ages, — the  fact  that  previous  to  this  they  had  been  already  baptized  in 
Canada,  and  the  names  then  given  them — and,  finally  that  the  name  Sayword 
had  already  become  Sayer  in  Canada. 


8o 


TRUK   STORIKS   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


tains  the  name  of  "Mrs.  Mary  Plaisted  York."  Another  sent 
at  the  same  time,  is  of  "Those  Remaining  still  in  the  hands 
of  the  French  of  Canada,"  and  bears  the  names  of  the  two 
sisters : 

Mary  Sayard  girll  Dover 
Esili  Svvayard     "         " 

In  October,  1696,  a  year  after  Mary  Plaisted's  redemption, 
she  was  "Presented  at  the  court  at  Wells,  for  not  attending 
ye  Publick  worship  of  God  upon  ye  Lord's  Day." 

The  godless  weaklings  of  our  day  might  find  palliating 
circumstances,  without  considering  the  hardships  of  her 
every  day  life,  and  the  terrible  experiences  of  her  recent  cap- 
tivity.    Nevertheless, 

"Mr.  James  Plaisled,  at  the  following  court  helil  at  York,  on  the 
6th  of  April,  1697,  appearing  in  behalf  of  his  wife,  to  answer  her 
presentment  for  not  frequenting  ye  Publick  worship  of  God  upon  ye 
Lord's  Day,  she  being  under  some  bodily  infirmity,  hindering  her 
own  ai)pearance,  Is  for  her  offence  to  pay  4s.  ud.  fine,  and  to  be  ad- 
monished; ffees  payd  in  court." 

In  April,  1696,  "Lycence  was  granted  to  Mr.  James  Play- 
stead  to  retayle  bear,  syder  an  victuals  at  his  now  dwelling 
house."     This  license  was  renewed  from  year  to  year. 

January  20,  1707,  there  is  this  vote  of  the  town,  from  which 
it  appears  that  the  conditional  agreement  between  the  town 
and  John  Sayword  had  not  been  faithfully  kept,  by  one  or 
both  parties : 

"Whereas,  there  is  several  differences  between  the  Inhabitants  of 
the  town  of  York  in  the  Province  of  Maine  in  the  Massachusetts 
Government,  and  Mr.  James  Plaisted  and  Mary  his  now  wife,  the 
Relict  of  John  Saword,  all  of  said  York,  relating  to  work  done  by 

said  Jt)hn  Sayword  aforesaid,  to  York  meeting  house A  referee 

shall  be  chosen  by  the  town  and  another  by  Plaisted  and  his  wife,  to 
hear,  and  determine,  all  Differences." 


ISKJl 


zjoa 


■j,  ',>«rJi-^m^ 


STORY   OF   A    YORK    FAMILY.  8 1 

James  and  Mary  Plaisted  both  sign  an  agreement  on  penalty 
of  fifty  dollars,  to  aeeept  the  result  of  the  arbitration. 

Later  "Wm.  Sawer,"  [Say word]  and  "Wm.  Goodsoe"  state 
that  they  "have  looked  over  the  matter  and  eannot  agree  and 
have  left  it  out  to  Daniel  Emery  of  Kittery  to  make  a  final 
end  of  the  controversy." 

July  II,  1 710,  Capt.  James  Plaisted  and  his  wife  Mary, 
deed  land  together.  Here,  busied  with  the  occupations  of 
the  yeomanry  of  the  period  in  New  England,  active  in  church 
and  state,  respected  and  worthy  citizens  of  old  York,  and  in 
the  prime  of  life,  we  will  leave  them  and  look  for  their  two 
daughters,  left  behind  in  Canada. 

Many  summers  ago,  in  an  idle  hour  and  with  no  purpose,  I 
copied  a  few  pages  from  the  old  town  records  of  York.  It 
was  long  before  I  had  heard  of  James  Plaisted  and  his  wife 
Mary  Rishworth.  The  quaint  spelling  and  simple  directness 
of  the  language  interested  me,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  by 
what  Cotton  Mather  would  have  called  a  Remarkable  Provi- 
dence, that  this  particular  page  of  the  record  should  have 
captivated  me. 

A  humble  romance  seemed  to  unfold  itself  in  this  step- 
father, willing  to  father  his  wife's  children  by  a  former  mar- 
riage, though  his  own  children,  later  born,  are  naturally  put 
first  in  the  record.  Here  is  the  story  as  it  stands,  written 
more  than  two  hundred  years  ago  on  the  old  book : 

James  Plaisted,  Hearths  of  His  children.  Lydia  Plaisted  was 
Borne  the  fouerth  day  of  Janerwary  in  ye  year  1696. 

Olife  Plaisted  was  Borne  the  first  day  of  May  in  ye  year  1698. 
Mary  Sayward  was  Borne  the  fouerth  April  168 1. 
Susannah  Sayward  was  Borne  the  ninth  day  of  May  1683. 
Esther  Sayward  was  Borne  the  seventh  day  of  March  1685. 
Hannah  Sayward  was  borne  the  twenty-one  of  June  1687. 
John  Sayward  was  Borne  second  of  Janerwary  1690. 


■  ^SS^^^^^E^^^! 


82  TRUE    STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

The  last  was  evidently  a  posthumous  child,  the  only  son, 
born  shortly  after  the  death  of  his  father,  John  Sayward,  and 
named  for  him. 

We  are  now  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  Mary,  the  first  born, 
and  Esther,  the  third  child  of  John  Sayward  and  his  wife, 
Mary  Rish worth. 

On  the  parish  records  of  Notre  Dame  in  Montreal,  with  the 
baptism  of  their  mother  is  a  note  interlined,  in  a  different 
handwriting,  and  apparently  written  long  after.  This  note 
records  the  indisputable  fact  that  on  the  same  day  and  in  the 
same  church,  her  two  daughters  were  also  baptized.  As  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  church  to  add  the  names  of  saints 
to  the  newly  baptized,  Mary,  the  elder,  then  about  thirteen, 
received  the  added  name  of  Genevic've.  Esther,  the  younger, 
lost  her  New  England  name  entirely  and  was  re-baptized  as 
Marie  Joseph,  she  bting  then  about  eight  years  old. 

In  a  list  of  the  pupils  of  the  nuns  of  the  Congregation  in 
1693,  the  name  ot     ne  of  the  Sayer  sisters  appears. 

When  we  remeni.  r  that  the  captives  were  in  Canada  dur- 
ing the  most  romantic  period  of  the  history  of  New  France 
— that  the}'  saw  daily  those  whose  religious  devotion  has  won 
them  world-wide  fame,  truth  seems  stranger  than  fiction. 

A  profound  impression  must  have  been  made  upon  the 
sensibilities  of  all  the  young  captive  girls  when  Jeanne  Le 
Ber,  the  only  daughter  of  the  richest  merchant  in  Montreal, 
renounced  the  world  and  abandoned  her  family,  to  devote 
herself  to  a  religious  life.  Marie  Genevieve  Sayer  was,  no 
doubt,  perfectly  familiar  with  the  face  of  the  young  devotee, 
and  witnessed  her  voluntary  incarceration  m  the  cell  which 
she  had  had  built  for  her,  behind  the  altar  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Congregation. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  Aug.  5,  1695,  after  ves- 
pers, M.  DoUier  de  Casson,  with  all  his  clergy  in  splendid 
attire,  went  to  the  house  of  the  Seigneur  Le  Ber,  whence. 


MMMI 


ar,T-s 


STORY   OF   A   YORK    FAMILY.  83 

chanting  psalms  and  prayers,  they  marched  in  procession. 
Behind  them  came  the  yoiing  Jeanne  Le  Ber.  She  was  robed 
in  gray,  with  a  black  girdle.  Her  father,  pale  with  weeping, 
accompanied  her,  followed  by  all  their  friends  and  relatives. 

The  people  who  thronged  the  streets,  awe-struck  at  the 
unusual  spectacle,  could  not  restrain  their  sobs.  To  them  the 
act  about  to  be  consummated,  seemed  like  a  living  death  to 
both  father  and  child.  On  arriving  at  the  chapel  the  recluse 
fell  upon  her  knees,  while  M.  DoUier  blessed  her  little  cell 
and  spoke  to  her  a  few  words  of  counsel. 

Her  heart-broken  father,  unable  to  bear  the  sight,  fled 
weeping  from  the  spot.  But  Jeanne  Le  Ber,  with  tearless 
eyes  and  steady  hand,  firmly  closed  the  door  upon  herself 
forever. 

Three  years  later,  Mary  Sayer  must  have  been  present  at 
a  happier  scene,  in  the  same  little  chapel  at  what  we  may 
consider  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  order  of  the 
Nuns  of  the  Congregation  in  Montreal.  The  three  years  of 
anxiety,  discussion  and  delay  were  ended.  The  rules  of  the 
order  had  been  the  day  before,  "solemnly  accepted  and  signed 
by  all  the  Community."  Now,  on  the  morning  of  the  25th 
of  June,  1698,  the  religious  world  of  Villemarie  had  assem- 
bled to  witness  the  performance  of  "that  article  of  the  regu- 
lations which  prescribed  the  simple  vow  of  poverty,  chastity, 
obedience  and  the  teaching  of  little  girls." 

There  were  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Sulpitian  priests, 
conspicuously  the  zealous  and  scholarly  Father  Meriel. 
There  was  the  Vicar-General,   Dollier  de  Casson,  "tall  and 

portly,  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman-  -albeit  a  priest As 

pleasant  a  father  as  ever  said  Benedict i\''  says  Mr.  Parkman. 
There  was  the  great  bishop.  Saint- Vallier — dominant,  a  pas- 
sionate extremist,  believing  in  himself  and  impatient  of  con- 
tradiction— fulminating  in  those  days  as  sharply  against  the 


84  TRUK   STORIES   OV   NKW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

"big  sleeves"  and  ".ow-neck'.^d  dresses"  of  Quebec  damsels 
as  the  sterii'\st  Puritan  of  the  period,  in  Boston. 

Perhaps  a  shade  of  disapointment  clouded  the  brow  of  the 
haui^hty  prelate  at  his  failure  to  force  the  c'oister  upon  the 
ladies  of  the  Congregation;  perhaps  also  a  corresponding 
elation  on  the  face  of  Marguerite  Bourgeois  at  the  success  of 
her  passage  at  arms  with  that  almost  indomitable  will. 

Well  might  she  have  said,  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  ser- 
vant depart  in  peace."  Howev^er  this  may  be,  the  h(^ur  was 
one  of  peace  and  joy  for  the  Sisters,  as  one  after  the  other, 
each  pronounced  her  vows  and  received  from  the  bishop  the 
name  of  some  noted  saint  or  martyr,  by  which  thereafter  she 
was  to  be  known. 

The  fact  that  the  name  of  Marie  des  Anges  does  not  ap- 
peal r  in  the  list  of  those  who  took  part  in  this  solemn  cere- 
mony seems  to  prove  that  Marie  Genevieve  vSayer  had  not 
yet  completed  the  two  years  of  preparation  necessary  be- 
fore assuming  all  the  rights  and  duties  of  a  convent  life,  but 
was  still  living  under  the  direction  of  the  Maitrrss'^  des  No- 
vices. She  was  then  about  eighteen,  and  must  soon  after 
have  taken  up  the  full  duties  and  responsibilities  of  her 
office;  for,  although  the  name  of  her  sister  appears  often  on 
Montreal  records,  her  own  is  seen  no  more  after  the  baptism 
of  her  mother  in  1693. 

The  years  following  her  novitiate  were  busy  ones  for  the 
nuns  of  Canada.  Up  and  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  missions 
had  been  early  founded  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation. 
With  incredible  fatigue,  but  untiring  zeal.  Marguerite  Bour- 
geois had  gone  back  and  forth  between  Montreal  and  Quebec, 
often  in  winter  creeping  prostrate  over  frozen  streams  or 
wading  knee-deep  in  the  icy  water. 

The  Mission  of  the  Mountain  was  removed  to  Sault  au 
Recollet.  Soeur  Marie  des  Anges,  (the  captive  Marie  Gene- 
vieve Sayer)  was  there  at  the  head  of  the  Mission  School  for 


'^"""■"■Rlffl^S 


'"'"'^^   '"•■  A  vn„K  ,,nn,,v. 


«^5 


.     1  he  missions  at  ( )„cb,.c  w,.r,.  r 

"lat  l)laco,sl„„„  the  ust,.,.,„  ,  .*^^"'  '-nslaiid  eaptive  l^or 

"'^'"■.  "'orits,  by  their  eo"ra.;.  n^l','^""""  ""i-^"".f"i.slied  by 
.'I'l^o.nted.  Tl,„„gh  the  "1^:/  '''-'"'■'"  '•'"''  •-'"•'itv,"  were 
-■•"in^  her,  it  u-o' ,d  be' c  ;  t  ;V"r';"-'f'-  '-  -'em  e, 

"e»  that  reeord  the  laboV  ^f  the  :,  "'"■  -^'"'T  ''^'-een  the 
"ourgeots  between  ,69s  and T;  '   .,7  ^'^'"'-^  "f  ^^rfft.eri.e 

vvJiile  lookinp-  for  n,.     ^  ;/ '/ at  guebec. 
:"«^"--  in  the'n,   ;„':;  i'^:'  -P'»'-  at  y„ebec,  the  word 
■"*f-only  this  and  n':,thh,V,t„:r"''"'  '"'  "'"^  '"  "-  fol><"v- 

'■'■I.e  2Sth  of  ,M;,rci,    ,,,,„,     ,      , 
-  A.a,.ie  de»  A,„e,  a™^   ;,'  ,;':':T  i"  f.^  ''--"  Church,  Sis- 

™»"orot-/p  - ---  i-™™enTlr[-- ., 

New  England  familie    ^0^,1     '  ''f  "'■'"^  "'"^^  «'  leaTiniJ 
finely  to  wed  then,  eithl^  t"  tt  Xreh"""/^-^  "'  "-»  -^ 

i^sther  Say  ward  wTiot^        i        ^^^"^<^h  or  state. 

%;er  was  e'^neatrby  ,  "  IT  "]  ''f  "-''^  -^  ««-  Joseph 
probably  remained  under  tie  '""  Congregation  aS 

--':  ;in  pt-eseni  o^^in  f- -;^;/-;h  eh„reh  of  Mon- 
•    ■""  "-^^  ■""■-'■  '°"'>-Se'X  rp:■:fde°L■p7"- 


86 


I'RIM':    SroRIHS   OF    NHW    ENCLAND    CAl'I'lVES. 


merchant,  of  Montreal.  The  fact  that  the  three  banns  were 
dispensed  with,  hints  ihat  ambassadors  fiom  our  government, 
concerning  an  cxchanj.'o  of  prisoners,  were  then  in  Canada, 
anci  it  was  thought  best  speedily  to  clip  the  wings  of  this 
captive  bird. 

Marie  Joseph,  the  first  child  of  Pierre  de  L'Estage  and 
Marie  Joseph  vSayer,  was  born  October  i,  17 12.  The  child's 
godmother  was  "Marie  hardin,"  who  "could  not  sign  the  rec- 
ord, on  account  of  her  great  age."  This  child  died  at  the 
age  of  four.  Jacques  Pierre,  the  second  child,  was  born  and 
baptized  Aug.  ',  1714.  Its  godparents  were  Jacques  Le  Ber, 
Seigneur  de  Senncville,  and  Madame  Repentigny.  In  the 
record  the  father  is  called  "Monsieur  Pierre  Lestage,  Mar- 
chand  Bourgeois  of  this  city  and  treasurer  for  the  king." 
In  1 71 5,  he  became  the  owner  of  the  Seigniory  of  Berthier,  op- 
posite Sorel,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

To  the  kindness  of  Rev.  Pere  Moreau,  cure  of  Notre  Dame 
des  Monts,  county  of  Terrebonne,  antiquary,  savant  and 
author  of  the  History  of  Berthier,  I  am  indebted  for  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"Pierre  de  Lestage  built  the  first  Catholic  church  of  Ber- 
thier, about  1723,  and  obtained  on  Dec.  3,  1732,  from  Gov- 
ernor Beauharnois  and  the  Intendant  Hocquart,  a  great  ad- 
dition to  his  Seigniory  because,  as  is  said  in  the  deed;  'he 
was  worthy  of  it.'  " 

He  also  improved  the  highways,  and  built  at  Berthier  a 
saw  mill,  a  gristmill  and  a  fine  mansion  for  himself  with  a 
grand  avenue  leading  thereto,  which  still  exist.  His  friend 
M.  Louis  Lepage,  Vicar-general  of  Quebec,  and  Seigneur  of 
Terrebonne,  having  founded  there  the  parish  of  St.  Louis, 
built  for  it  a  stone  church,  to  which  he  gave  a  chime  of  bells 
and  invited  his  friend  De  L'Estage  to  be  godfather  at  the 
ceremony  of  the  blessing  of  the  bells. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  December, 


-___ 


;.'.."WS»^Wb»jK::; 


•\    W»R/v    F.\M[[  V 

-  -     _ ■  87 

''-«ly  «-a.s  car.i.Hl  Lulu-  ch,  ■'     ^I'T""^-     '"""  '"•••'<'  <lay  his 
-""  mass  u..,s  said,     /.'n  n    ^  '       v^"''''"'  "^"'"^'  ^''-'e  a  so 

'"  Madame  de  L'J    t  "e     s    ■'"     ''''''''''"  -^'«  'severe  blow 
■••"''  consolation  to  1    rbel.n    V'     '"■■■'">'  ""•»"'  f-  synTna  hv 

f;:">'«I.     i'oubtiessky'-thir  ,":•■"  "';"  '^■^<'  '-fr-nSr 
aJjoin.ns  the  eonvent  an  I    ,T         ,    '  "'"^  P'xchased  a  hout 

ladies  of  the  eonvenr  1,?  ''"  ''""'  '"^•'intc  Pierre      i  r 

'"  ",t  a  door  1,    vZ  4"?  '"■■;■'"'""'  M-'-'-med    I^Estl^: 
'■".'hours  «,t„  her    d  ,t  7"    ;7'-^^\«'- -^Pent  the  ret^ 
of  these  daujihters  die     at    h'""  '"  ""=  "»™nt      One 
^'  -*f'ny.     Aiilietio,  1^ Vin  reasf  °'  '^^-'y-«ve.  the  ot^e 
Se.gn.ory  of  lierthier  in  Peb'nr     *•'  T  ^'^  '"''  '"  ««"  the 
'50°  l.vres,.  whiel,  with  an  annu.?:  '^''-  ^°'-  '•' '"-  annuity  rf 
-tates  in  Franee.  hands^n,:";";^,' "n';;  '""'  '^"-  "t-bandt 
y  cared  for  by  the  Sisters  of  u'  f.^'"'"''  '"''  «^"'«-    Tender. 
Petual  pensioner."  spent  wi  ,' I  ^""S^'^S^'-"'"".  »he  as  "per 
'he  remainder  of  J,  d  '  s     t,  "r  .P^^^cfully  and  happ^y 

;:  ™f '"-''"-'^'-ed  to  her'^^edT't^T'f-"  "'  ""^^  '^° 
ta^-t.     I  he  date  of  her  death  is  ,  ''  '"''"  eyes  at  the 

»aj  bttried  near  her  be  oved  sf /'' "'''"°"" '" '"e.  She 
"nder  the  ehapel  of  St  ItmelnT  1,""^  Congregafo" 
Dame,  whieh  stood  in  them  dd.eof  wh.?"  *-"'-^*  "'  Notre 
fet   opposite  the  present  eathedral     Ti,      "  T "  ^°'"'  ^ame 

"f  the  New  England  captive  M,rier"' 1"'"' "''^  ■"°«'" 

I'    ve,  Mane  Joseph  Esther  Sayer 


«■! 


88 


TRUli   SlURlliS   OF    MCW    KN(;i,ANl)    CAi' IIVKS. 


rested,  until  about  1830,  when  all  who  had  bceti  buried  under 
the  old  ehureh,  were  removed  to  the  Cemetery  of  the  C»')tc 
St.  Antoine. 

A^ain  exhumed  before  1866,  they  now  rest  in  tlie  present 
Cemetery  at  Cote  des  Neiges, — the  site  of  the  former  Ceme- 
tery of  the  Cote  St.  Antoine  l)ein}4-  now  oeeupied  by  Domin- 
ion Square  and  its  fine  surroundinj^s. 

She  j^ave  to  the  eonvent  mo,-t  of  her  household  ^oods. 
among  them  elej^ant  candelabra  and  other  articles  of  silver. 

Some  of  her  bequests  escaped  the  successive  conllaj^rations 
from  which  the  Convent  has  suffered.  Amonj^  other  things, 
a  '-h'-st  of  drawers,  arm  chairs,  silver  snufife"  •  and  tray,  and 
some  exquisite  embroidery. 

The  Cure,  who  has  been  kindly  interested  in  this  little 
sketch,  writes  me  as  follows: 

"Indeed  with  her  mother  and  sister  she  was  greatly  tried 
at  the  time  ot  their  captivity,  but  it  was  the  way  Ciod  judged 
proper  to  lead  her  to  a  religion,  which  they  thought  after- 
wards to  be  the  only  one  able  to  lead  men  to  eternal  happi- 
ness, and  for  them  to  a  suitable  establishment." 


mm 


■aHHi 


^mn 


maa 


"^"^T* 


Jl.t-MKNTOFAKKONT 

i6;o. 


THE  SET- 
IKR  TOWN. 


"  rile  Independent  Chnr  I   " 
'he  way  f„..  u,.  I.Klc,K.,K!:;n's:::;-;:;;-,™'7nter.  ..prepared 

"""■       fhu  most  Htiperfici-,1  ,-„',,*"  ^"'''^P^ndent  Na 
™"nent,y  .seeu.ar  .Ler.:      „ ^     ,:;,;f   ^'-y.  -  this  pt 
Jheeorner,sto„e„f  New  F,,;!.'™,  *"'"'"''-'  ">«  foc-t  that 

■■'-•'■ff'",,,"  .u,r  can  he  faH To "ofe       "'■";  ''■"'''  '"  ""=  ^'■-'"^e  o 
■nan  were  the  providence  of  f  ""■'  '"•■'-'i^'ent.s  o 

"'""try.  """^  °f  f'"'"  -n  the  settlement  of  our 

f^^^^^^:r'^:::::::^s;r  ^  '--—of  a 

London  onr  forefathers  sigfed    if  f  '"'°  "''=''  company  at 
imlo  cabin  of  their  storm  rZlV  "°"'  Compact  in  the 

'an  they  knew.     Mag"     J™  ^  ,,aTt''  ""^^  ''"'"«'  ^ette 
of  that  simple  act,  to^lstab h"  h  I  jern'o     '"  "'  "^""^equences 
-t  the  purpose  whereunto  the  ^4^^  sfnT '^^  ™^ 

"What  sought  .hey  thus  afar? 
Later,  it  was  the  .I'!'   f°"^'''  ^  ^-""^'^  P-e  shrine.- 


mmm 


oo 


^-^   '■■>"'l  AM,  ,„.,,v|.;s. 


'>H'l.-na.  R„,,,„,,.  '"-     I'-.y.  a„,l  .seUlcl    \V,„i,,„ 

f'""<.u,s  curl  „f   Uj.w,     '■  '"'^"  '''•'^•^■"  l>ythreau„f  ||„,  ;, 

"■-•mo  of  n.«„„,  '"■^  ..i-n.al.  ,„„,,  U.u.k.cA,,,!,  uIc 

^  ^le  same  rcliuioi,^.  r 

^""W  seem.  i„  our  d-u    i^,       "^J^'-^'^^'ti cable  and  i.nft.J 

moral  worth  and  ^,„„,,„,.,^         "•'''  "f  Personal  character,  of 
We  need  to  ren,en,ber  a„,id  the  disse.  ■ 

«<•  d,.s.scn.sion.s  that  arc  agi. 


^i-'Tn.EMHNT   (.!• 


■^  '''<"Mii;k  mux. 


'  ■■"•^■VLT  lllcy  „,av  h.ux.  ,  !s    ,        .  ''^'  '"■  '""■  "^"i"". 

: -'-  -•'  "P-.n  whi. ,'  ,y",;';;r"r';' '"'" "-  ■-  "■ 

«•"  "«  frucl,,,,,,  thai  I>l.„Uc.,I  ,h  .  r       *"  '"'"■''  ^'■^•'1  •""'  rc- 

^^    -I."n  a,ul  his  R,,,,,„,.,  neij^^  w'      ■.'■'•''""^■^''  "f  William 
W.t.han,  and  his  Dorches'te,  /  ,  "  ■^l"'"'Klicl<l,  „|-  |„|,„ 

'eld,  and  „f  U„„k^^^|.  ,,„  ,  1.,  '"""  ■"■  il«  paster,  t„  VVeiih,.  .: 

^-;^>  ™  thJs:,;*:!;';?;' -  ;;f  ,;;---i"n.y  .,r  the  uan.„, 

St^riie'r' "' '"'  -^"^^^^'ifJCT'""-'^'' 


92  rRlK    SIOKIKS    Ol"    NKW     i;.\(il.AM)    (AI'lIVKS. 


It  could  not  be  supposed  that  men  professing  "the  propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  to  be  above  all  their  aim  in  settling  this 
plantation,"  would  be  long  indifferent  to  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  the  savages  around  them.  The  conversion  of  the  na- 
tives was  early  an  object  of  their  solicitude,  but  the  obstacles 
were  such  as  might  have  appalled  the  most  enthusiastic  zealot; 
and  not  until  1644,  was  the  work  begun  in  earnest. 

John  Eliot,  destined  to  become  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians, 
on  quitting  the  University  at  Cambridge,  England,  was  as- 
sistant to  Thomas  Hooker,  in  a  private  school.  Leaving  his 
native  country  for  the  same  motives  that  impelled  other 
Puritans  at  that  time,  and  arriving  in  1631,  at  Boston,  he 
there  for  a  season  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  absent  pastor, 
and  later  was  appointed  teacher  of  the  newly  organized  church 
at  Roxbury.  The  missionary  spirit,  which  prompted  him  to 
undertake  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  was  greatly  aided 
by  his  natural  fondness  for  philological  studies,  in  which  he 
is  said  to  have  excelled  at  college.  Employing  his  leisure 
hours  in  endeavoring  to  master  the  language  of  the  natives, 
at  length,  in  the  autumn  of  1644,  he  preached  in  a  wigwam 
on  Nonantum  hill,  his  first  sermon  in  the  Indian  tongue. 
Some  authority  seemed  to  be  given  soon  after  to  his  under- 
taking, by  an  order  from  the  (leneral  Court  to  the  County 
Courts^  "for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians  and  their  instruc- 
tion in  the  worship  cf  God." 

The  passage  of  such  a  decree  was  an  easy  task.  What  be- 
nevolence and  fortitude,  what  faith,  patience  and  courage 
were  requisite  to  its  execution,  those  who  have  read  the  life 
of  Eliot  know  full  well.  From  this  time  to  the  end  of  his 
long  life,  his  labors  for  the  Indians  were  unflagging.  Having 
the  good  sense  to  see  that  they  must  be  civilized  before  they 
could  be  christianized,  he  wished  to  collect  them  in  compact 
settlements  of  their  own.  "I  find  it  absolutely  necessary," 
he  says,  "to  carry  on  civility  with  religion."     To  quote  his 


III  Ilk  I       II  .iiiwimmiinnrm 


-K>^r-^j: 


SKTTI.KMKXT    OK    a    FRoNTIKR    T,,WX.  ^. 

enclosed  lands."  the  Court  approving  ^o"re,^6"''' '" 

»£zs::; -Trss:- S;;?r^^^^ 
rx -r^zi'trrrs-t^sf-tF- 
Ss.:rj:txs;::;r::°;::';':::::';:t;: 

dians  be  not  dispossessed  of  siuh   Itnds  •,.  fl,.v 


^"^^^■^r^BF^*    i^^.    i«     i^       Pi  ^^■ii^l»»-^^ipi^Bf^p^p->-S- 


94  TRUK    SI'OUIKS   OV   NEW    ENCLANI)    CAPTIVES. 


thereby  sustained  by  Dedham,  together  with  charges  sustained 
in  suits  about  the  same,  be  determined  by  the  said  committee,  such 
allowance  being  made  1  jm  out  of  Natick  landvS,  or  others  yet  lying 
in  coii^  non,  as  they  shall  judge  equal." 

One  of  the  committee  appointed  "being  disabled  by  the  prov- 
idence of  God,"  and  the  other  utterly  declining  the  work,  the 
Court  at  its  autumn  session, 

"Being  sensible  of  the  great  inconveniency  that  accrues  to  both 
English  and  Indians  by  the  neglect  of  an  issue  to  the  controversy, 
elects  others  in  their  stead  and  orders  that  the  work  be  issued  with- 
in six  weeks  at  the  fartherest." 

June  i6,  1663 — "For  a  final  issue  of  the  case  between  Dedham  and 
Natick,  the  court  judgeth  it  meet  to  grant  Dedham  8000  acres  of 
land  in  any  convenient  place  or  places,  not  exceeding  two,  where  it 
can  be  found  free  from  former  grants,  provided  Dedham  accept 
of  this  offer." 

At  a  general  meeting,  Jan.  i,  1664,  the  town,  as  we  learn  from 

the  Dedham  records, 

"Having  duly  considered  this  proposition,  their  conclusion  is  about 

the  8000  acres,  that  the  care  of  managing   the  same  so  as  the  town 

may  have  their  ends  answered,  be  left  fc  the  Selectmen  now  to  be 

chosen," 

among  whom  were  Ensign  Daniel  Fisher  and  Lieut.  Joshua 
Fisher. 

Sept.  21,  1664,  John  Fairbanks  having  informed  the  Select- 
men that  Goodman  Prescott,  "an  auntient  planter  and  pub- 
lique  spirited  man  of  Lancaster,"  thinks  it  probable  that  a 
stiitable  tract  of  land  is  to  be  found  at  some  distance  from 
there,  they  depute  Lieut.  Fisher  and  Fairbanks  to  repair  to 
Sudbury  and  Lancaster,  and  report  upon  their  return.  An 
item  here  occurring  of  "9s  allowed  Henry  Wright  for  his 
horse  for  the  journey  to  the  Chestnut  country,  judging  it  well 
worth  that,"  has  reference  to  this  expedition,  and  Nov.  6, 
1664,  the  committee  reported  that  the  tract  of  land  where- 


of  they  had  been  informed,  was  ••iW.-uhT'l       ', ~~ 

several  farms,  and  altogether  ufAhl.!^  T"""^  "P™  '^^ 

It  is  preciselv  at  t1,;=  ,t      .  .^  '"  ''"PP'y  "'em." 

gins,     f  folC'the  records         "'  ""  ""'">'  °'  '^-^A^''!  be- 

towne  to  provide  th.u  th,-  -i™  '  '  '  '  u  "  ""*''=  '"  '"■half  of  the 
fie  that  grant,  and  t  a  vit  r^M  ::!;  "'  ''"''"  '"^'  '-"  ""'  to  .satis! 
grantee  enter  „p„„  i.  and  Xnl  ul"  ""'  '"""'  ''''"'=  ->"  °'"" 

e'tt?hr„;  ."Lt  ;:;:fn?d  ■:"'^"^°'  ^'^"-  j--"  ^■■■*- 

to  repayer  to  ihe  pll^^'n,"       f '    t"""^^'"^?''  f"'  ™'^^''"=" 
out  the  Land  accordino.  t„  thei   bis  t^-'  '  '  '"°™  *''"''  ''V 

ing  promised  ",00  aer^e  of  lILlTn  f  n""'""'"  '="^''' "'•'"  b^" 
Paynes, onely  to  Lie  t  F    >      f""  f  •'"■=*f«="o„  for  thier 

as  shall  be  judged  eoual  F,  tt'  '"'•'''  """=■■  ^-'"■'f^etion 
was  preventid  fy  th?'::!mi„g'r:f  SeT^'^i  '"  '"^  ^'"'^ 
some  unwillingness  seems  fo^.  '  '^""""S:  which 

mittee,  to  undenake  the^usLr  ^  '''""  ^>^  ''''  -«"^- 
Selectmen.  busmess  on  the  terms  offered  by  the 

As  appears  from  the  remrrl  f^f  tvt      i. 
was  amicably  settled  wher  '      '°'  "'''  "^"  <"«'™>'y 

'•Vpon  further  consideration  of  effecting  th^  I.     ■ 

Acres Lieft    Fisher    d.,.i,      "'"^^  '""=  'ayeing  out  the  8000 

aboue  tendered  hin,  f  ""^  ^fi^-ptance    of    „..  .J 

acres,  it  is  consented  vnto  p^vkled  he"Tr"'7  ""™""''  "''"^  ^co 
true  and  sufficient  platt  of  tha      r '  ,      ""'^''  ''™"'^  f^  'he  Towne  a 

tendered,  viz-.   ,50  achers  [„ t,'    'fZ'"  ''  '"^  P^^-"  '-'""ly 

hilTrhiXfeiit'firfs  'v^;,""' '-  '^^  ■'-'"- 

horse  for  the  journey.    A    'port^f    h     "'  '""^  *""  '"' 

/      A  report  of  this  committee  with 


96 


TkUK    STORIKS    OF   NKW    KN(;r,AM)    CArTIVKS. 


reference  io  an  accompanying^  plot,  certified  and  fij^ured 
as  "layd  out  by  Joshua  Fisher,  May,  1665,"  proves  that  the 
work  was  accomplished  without  much  delay. 

The  principle  of  vSquatter  Sovereignty  by  which  men  nat- 
urally at  first  possess  themselves  of  lands  in  a  new  settlement, 
is  as  naturally  set  aside  b)-  the  first  attempts  at  corporate 
government.  The  land  was  granted  by  the  (General  Court  in 
townships,  without  prescription  as  to  the  manner  of  its  ap- 
portionment among  the  inhabitants,  and  though  per'^;ons  and 
property  seem  to  have  had  some  consideration  in  the  distri- 
bution, no  uniform  rule  was  observed  in  the  different  towns. 

Dedham,  at  this  period,  was  occupied  by  two  classes  of 
inhabitants,— landed  proprietors,  and  landless  residents.  All 
the  lands  of  the  township,  at  first  held  as  common  property, 
had  been  divided  into  522  cow  commons,  a  name  Ijased  upon 
the  ntmiber  of  cattle  then  running  on  the  common  pasture, 
and  by  a  somewhat  arliitrary  rule,  a  certain  number  of  these 
shares  assigned  to  each  proprietor,  with  the  understanding 
that  his  rights  in  all  future  grants  of  land  to  the  township 
of  Dedham  would  be  proportionate  to  his  proprietorship  there. 
In  the  actual  division  of  the  Pocumtuck  grant,  however,  there 
are  523  cow  commons,  one  more  than  [n  the  Dedham  property, 
a  discrepancy  as  yet  inexplicable. 

After  the  allotment  of  the  750  acres  promised  to  Lieut. 
Fisher  and  his  three  associates,  for  their  assistance  in  laying 
out  the  grant,  the  remainder  was  to  be  divided  into  cow  com- 
mons. The  surveyors  doubtless  selected  their  tract  on  their 
first  expedition,  and  their  choice  was  made  with  great  '-.agac- 
ity.  It  included  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  ol  the 
very  best  land  in  the  north  meadows,  situated  as  we  believe 
from  a  careful  comparison  of  allotments,  in  the  region  now 
known  as  Pogue's  Hole,  the  Neck  and  White  »Swamp. 

It  may  be  a  satisfaction  to  property  holders  there,  to 
note  the  advance  in  real  estate  since  Dee.   10,   1665,  when 


^n.KAIK.Xr   ,„.•  A    ,.K,>.NT,KK    T„WK. 


t«>l.  and  Lioiit.  Fish,.,.  „,.,,.°  ■  ^^  '"  ''■"''"  ""''  '^^•'t- 
f"'-  "A  in  ca.sh  and  Jc,  "t,!,''  '^?"="'  "''f-'  "^  l"'^  rights. 
prob..blv,  when  -^  Jr        .      "  !""'  '■••'"""■"  "'e  only   !,„,. 

•  "-  i-n  b,4rcrft  f  ;t;'r;;: '""  "-^«='''  -'^' 

1  Hat  each  pi-opretor's   l-nirl   .i,    ii  ' 

'enanc.  of  „„  (J,,,,,    ^^  M  1^  '   ,7  """T"*'  """■■"■^  "-  --- 

""y  pan  of  d,e  Sooo  in  pr,,,,,,,.,)  '       "  "  ^""'  '''"  ""'"■■^  "'"  Lold 

c-vc„m,„„„s,  shall  |K.ypn  '       •','      """"""'  ■""'"""  "-'"-^ 

The  Ia.st  elause  refer,  /  ,"^    '"■'"'"'«''^'"  "-■<='' 

>-..  a  Pasfer  '^uKa^';:;^:^  f,    -;-:  ^^^^^  f  en,p,.,.. 

Any  man  unwillino-  „r  „„.,hi,.  ,'"'■"•"":  ^'""■'-•h- 
'0-.  wa.s  en,p„wered1o  ,s      '  t   ",  u ' '  "^  '■''^^"'-  '^  ""-- 
b}  a  mai.  „y  „f  ,|,^  propriet,  rV  5,^  ''  ''""''  '"  '^^  «''«<' 

be  fonnc.  the  inhabitan     of    p":       /",'■''"""" '^">'"='- ^'""Id 

rights  at  that  priee.  or     e    hLr'"!'      /"•'^  '"  '•■"^•«  »'« 
The  bound.s  „f  th^  errant  h,  ,""  "'"  •''f"'-«»«i'l  ta.x-. 

"-  ne.t  thin,  to  be^u^l  t^^tul^'l  ""' '"  ^^'  "^'^'^ 
t  tie  by  a  nominal  pnreha,se  of  hiv  f  ,  '  "^  ""=  '"dian 
^•hase.  I  .say,  beea,,.^.  reniemb .,  t"h ""  'i,  f  ""■""'^'  l"- 
ands  from  Suffield  to  Nor  fie  1  *"  '  '■'"  "'^  f'-'"''"''  river 
Indian.s  for  a  few  .n-eat  c  ,  t.  1  "'"''•'  •""■'-••''''^ed  from  the 
wampnm.  I  eannot'^u  L  "     "'f  Tu  """""■^'  '""^"'"-^  "f 

p-^^:;^ietti:^-'^-S-^ 


T^m^mmmmm'^^^gmrmmmmmmimmmmmmm'mimmmmmmmmmmmm^mm^m^i^fs^^^  -wdfiixq  i 


98  TRUl-:    SrORIKS    ok   new    KNdLANI)   CAl'TIVES. 

poet,  says  "It  would  be  difliciilt  to  tell  why  Penn's  purchase 
is  more  worthy  of  renown  than  the  purchase  of  Indian  lands 
in  Hadley  by  John  Pynchon  twenty  years  before."  With 
less  partiality  than  the  former  writer,  he  adds,  "both  bought 
as  cheaply  as  they  could." 

Let  us  cast  no  imputation  on  the  general  justice  of  the 
policy  of  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts  towards  the  In- 
dians. Still  it  is  noticeable  that  the  very  records  of  their  pur- 
chases make  complacent  mention  of  the  "Indian  title  in  [not 
to]  the  land,"  and  we  must  admit  that  it  was  usually  a  bar- 
gain in  which  might  made  right,  the  simple  wants  and 
characteristic  lack  of  foresight  of  the  red  man  being  no  match 
for  the  ambition  and  shrewdness  of  the  civilized  white.  Ma- 
jor John  Pynchon  of  vSpringfield,  (Worshipful  John)  in  his 
double  capacity  of  magistrate  and  trader,  dealt  largely  with 
the  Connecticut  River  Indians  and  effected  nearly  every  im- 
portant purchase  from  them.  The  Sachems  of  the  valley 
kept  a  running  account  at  Pynchon's  shop,  buying  from  him 
wampum  and  other  small  merchandise  of  which  they  stood 
in  need,  and  pledging  their  lands  in  payment. 

He  in  turn  transferred  the  Indian  deeds  to  the  white  set- 
tlers, receiving  from  them  money,  corn,  wheat  and  other 
standard  articles  of  trade.  The  following  items  from  Pyn- 
chon's account  book  is  a  small  part  of  the  debt  of  Umpacha- 
la,  the  Norwottuck  Sachem,  in  payment  of  which  he  gave 
Pynchon  a  deed  of  the  town  of  Hadley : 

"1660,  July  10,  2  coats,  shag  and  wampum,  5^;  Red  shag  cotton, 
knife,  7s.  July  30  to  September  14,  wampum  and  2  coats,  5^'  los; 
a  kettle,  i;^  5s;  for  your  being  drunk,  10s." 

Thus  for  the  vice  of  drunkenness  which  the  imtaught  Pagan 
had  learned  from  our  Christian  civilization,  we  forced  him 
to  forfeit  his  home,  and  yet  we  boast  of  the  fairness  of  our  deal- 
ings with  him. 

Major  Pynchon,  acting  in  behalf  of  the  Dedham  proprie- 


■Bi 


SETTLEMENT  o,  A  I-KONT,,,:,   TOWN. 


s'y 

tors,  obtained  from  tfi^.  p  .  — - 

'-<;.     Three  of  t w'te',X'  "•'    '"''^"^   ^""^  "-"»  "f 

J^he  first,  dated  February  ■>4ti,    ,fir„    •      ■ 
'nark  by  Chacjtte,  Sachem  of  Pocmntn'    V*''""'''  ^'"''    '"'^ 
vahtable  considerations."  transfer  "'  "■''°  *"''  «"""  •■■'"'l 
ntory  of  his  tribe,  to  Toh„  I    nc  ,      f     5''  P"''"°"  °f  "'«  'er. 

agreeing  to  defend  the  same  fr       '-"*f''*'n™  of  Dedham 
dian.s,  and  reserving  the  riglt         '"^  '""'estation  from  In. 

a-r\^;"  ":ar::a:;rt„^s;'"V^-  "-"^  -  --  -^r 

""ts  and  things  on  the  comm^",,^"  ™''""^'  '^''=«'""»  a,ul  other 

The  .second,  dated    Tune  i6th    ,^«     ■    . 
owner  of  certain  lands  .at  PocimUtcf ''h"    ™'"   ^asseamet, 
agreed  to  ".save  them  harmless  frl'aT,'"  '■™™y'"S  '"em 

By  the  third,  dated  July  „d     Z  '"'"'■'""""  °'  ^■'••'™«-" 

squ.nnitchall  of  Pocumtuek  "and  hi  V     ?""1"''"'  '"'''as  Me- 

both  Weshatchowmes  t  and  ToI'h     t''"'  '^"^"^  '^"^'  ««" 

waters.  Profits  and  commod1tJswha!f  ""'"^  ""  "'«  '■■<^«^. 

.es  to  hold  and  enjoy,  and  taT  forever'  The""""^  P"" 

of  this  business  was  the  chief  tnn.v   V  '^  Prosecution 

"i"-  ^th,  .66;,  the  Se,  «:     ^  ^r      '     T"' '' ^^'^''^»- 
respecting  Poconipticke  and  the  rir'-      r'''''™''°"  "'  »><=  ca.se 
eren  lateiy  upon  the  place  Z,  ''™"«'"  '>>'  '^ose  breth- 

to  make  reporte  in  publik^  IhenVvf  .  ""''  "'''"''  'hem  .... 

AlLso  that  the  Towne  be  ,n'd'  •"'"'''=  ''••'>' a""  Lecture. 

Worp™.  Cap.  PinchiL   n'^^tSr';''  '^^  "-"-sn...  of  the' 

'f  <"= who    haae  decl   ed      !-   I      ^    ''"'  "'*"'  "'  '''"^""'l'- 

about  40^  and  is  yet  in  pro  „u„  „  .  "-'-.al'reudy  layed  o  t 
by  word  and  writeing  ha  e  exp"  Id  ht 7"'  '''"*^  """  '""''"^'  '""> 
i;ayen,.  he  desire  is  money  vhe  te  a  <  T  '"  ""  ''•••""b'.rsed,  the 
'be^Towne  to  remember  L  g^Urie^hil ::*:"•■  '  "''  "'"""  "»'- 

-■"^"^---"'por  t^k  sixL^':-  :^-"""" "- 

'     ^^^"^  ^'^  W'i«  assessed 


^9^1 


mm 


100 


I'KUK    SIORIKS    ol'    NFAV    KNlil.AND    CAl'TlVKS. 


upon  each  cow  common,  rcclconino-  14  acres  or  thereabouts 
to  each  common,  and  an  e(jual  assessment,  acre  for  acre  on 
the  "farms"  of  the  surveyors. 

The  list  of  [iroprietors  at  this  time  numbers  sixty  Dedham 
men. 

The  deeds,  meanwhile,  having  been  delivered  to  Elea/.ar 
Lusher,  by  v^hom  they  were  deposited  in  Deacon  Aldis's 
box, — at  a  general  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  vSeptember 
29th,  1669,  g6£,  los  were  ordered  raised  to  pay  L'apt.  Pyn- 
chon,  (the  first  assessment  evidently  not  having  been  collect- 
ed), by  an  assessment  of  3s  4d  on  each  cow  c(~)mmon,  the  750 
acres  constituting  the  farms  of  the  surveyors  being  rated  at 
54  commons,  .showing  thus  an  estimate  of  about  14  acres  to  a 
common. 

This  list  contains  t.  e  names  of  eighty-four  proprietors,  prov- 
ing that  the  fever  of  speculation  in  Deerfield  land  was  spread- 
ing in  Dedham.  Among  several  transfers  of  rights  recorded, 
is  the  purchase  of  Anthony  Fisher's  1 50  acres  by  (tov.  Lev- 
erett,  who  sold  it  again  to  John  Pynchon  "for  £g  current  mon- 
ey and  several  barrels  of  tar,"  in  the  manufacture  of  which 
Springfield  was  largely  engaged.  Permission  was  also  grant- 
ed in  1668,  to  Lieut.  Fisher,  to  sell  a  part  of  his  rigl:  s  to  John 
Stebbins  of  Northampton,  ancestor  of  the  vStebbins  lamily  of 
Deerfield. 

On  May  loth,  1670,  a  committee  of  the  proprietors,  assem- 
bled to  fix  a  time  for  drawing  lots  and  settling  proprieties  at 
Pocumtuck,  order  notice  to  be  given  of  a  meeting  of  the  pro- 
prietors for  that  purpose,  at  the  meeting  house  in  Dedham 
at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  23d  instant. 

"The  proprietors  by  Grant  or  purchase,"  assembled  accord- 
ing to  appointment  on  the  morning  of  May  23d,  1670.  At 
this  meeting 

"It  is  agreed  that  an  Artist  be  procured  vpon  as  moderate  tearmes 
as  may  be  that  may  laye  out  the  I-otts  at  rawcompticke  to  each  pro- 
priato'." 


•simu^r  or  A  .KoNr.KK  r.nvx. 


lot 


Three  Hadley  men   -.ThT      ~~~~~ 

^""«  (except  h„„se  l,ott  )  tl,e  1      " ,  """^  '''"'"'»"  °f   l.an  N  o^   ' M 
e'-lyanci  westerly   and  , ,    ■  "'"'"'  "'  ""=  '-"tts  shall  n 

nil,,,  1  •^'       *^'  '^"^  heein  iio-nf  i.      ■  '  '^unne  east- 

'-^.l  ^vayes  be  on  the  northerly  si  ^  ^""^  ""^  '"^"s  .  .  „  '  , 

side "  "•-"■>  ■'"de  and  make  an  end  nn  fi ' 

,,,,  ■  *"""  ""  ^''t;  southerly 

^  he  mcadou' lands  only  ^vo.      n 
a  cow  eommon  represen    dTh  1     """^  '^  ^^^^^  ^^---^.  and 
Propnetors  inelttdes  two  won  In  ■       ?  '''  ^'^"^'-     '^^^e  H  t  o 
four  names,  amon^.  vvhich  are  n       ''"?  ^^^^^^^''^'"■'^  i"  all  thirty 
Samson  Frary.  ""''  ^^^««^  "f  San^uel  Hinsdell  and 

^ittee  yLted  tlT^rZ  '"'"'f  f ^'"S"  this  allotment    th. 

*<"■  'he,r  homesteads  was  of  o„,  "         '  '■""  '""^  ^''^a  set  apart 
served  for  tillage.  '       ™"''''  ■""<=!>  less  than  that  "- 

f"   '  V'^'-^' ''^'^''--tr'"  ^-    '-  too,  p„ee 

town  of  Dedham  of  all  tT  '"  "  detailed  report  tn  f^' 

esting  document'  H  £'  'I'^Lr^'^''^^.  -^  a'm    t  „ te, 

ea.^  and  west  on  the  street  thJ    "%"""  '°'^  ^«  'hey  fron^" 

-"  -th,  and  a  .^i.hwI^StTe^-Jddr:,^-'-^ 

Mrs.  Buncker. 


102  TKUK   STORIKS   OF    NKW    ENCJLANI)   CAl'TIVKS. 


east  and  west  to  the  mountain  and  river,  nearly  as  we  see 
them  to-day.  The  lots  were  numbered  in  regular  order,  No.  i 
being  at  the  north  end  on  the  west  side;  l)Ut  as  the  area  of 
eaeh  man's  house  lot  was  proportioned  to  the  number  of  cow 
commons  of  which  he  was  proprietor,  they  varied  in  extent 
from  one  acre  nine  rods,  to  seven  acres  ten  rods,  and  cannot  be 
identified.  Various  circumstances  lead  to  the  conclusion, 
that  lot  No.  1 3,  drawn  by  John  vStebbins,  was  that  now  owned 
by  Samuel  Wells. 

The  first  and  second  divisions  of  the  meadows  were  defined 
as  they  still  appear,  though  we  no  longer  recognize  a  curious 
distinction,  borrowed  doubtless  from  their  salt  marshes 
around  T3edham,  which  they  made  between  the  lower  lands 
on  the  river,  called  by  them  "the  meadows,"  and  "the  more 
higher  sort  of  lands,"  called  "Intervale  or  plow  lands."  The 
report  also  furnishes  the  clearest  evidence,  that  the  country 
surrounding  the  meadows,  (the  east  and  west  mountains,  from 
Long  Hill  south,  and  from  Cheapside  hills  north),  was  densely 
wooded,  which  is  contrary  to  tradition. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Deerfield  was  settled  by  a 
colony  from  Dedham,  as  Windsor  had  been  from  Dorchester. 
The  thirty-four  names  appearing  on  the  list  of  original  pro- 
prietors of  Pocumtuck,  do  not  represent  actual  settlers. 

Robert  Hinsdell  and  his  son  Samuel,  Samson  Frary,  John 
Farrington  and  Samuel  Daniels,  are  the  only  Dedham  men 
appearing  among  the  thirty-four  original  proprietors  of  Po- 
cumtuck, who  ever  became  actual  settlers  in  Deerfield.  John 
Stebbins,  a  Northampton  n  also  on  the  list,  settled  here. 
The  other  Dedham  propria  jrs  sold  out  their  rights. 

Robert  Hinsdell,  his  son  Samuel,  and  Samson  Frary, 
were  living  in  Hatfield  just  previous  to  the  allotment  of  lands 
at  Pocumtuck,  May  23d,  1670,  and  very  soon  after  that  date, 
the  two  latter  took  up  their  abode  in  Deerfield.  The  report 
to  which  I  have  alluded,  fixes  these  two  men  as  the  first  set- 


■MMiiiHiiiiiHliaiaMHailHHIMiiMMii 


SI'rm.KMF.NT   OF   A    FRONTIER   TOWN.  103 


tiers  of  Deerfield.  In  it,  the  street  is  deseribed  as  extendinj^ 
"from  Ivai^le  lirook  on  the  south  to  the  banke  or  fallinjr  ridge 
of  kind  at  vSamson  Frary's  celkir  on  the  north;"  and  permis- 
sion is  given  to  Samuel  Hinsdell  "to  enjoy  a  pereell  of  land 
on  which  at  present  he  is  resident,  considering  his  expense 
on  the  same." 

The  third  settler,  (xodfrey  Nims,  came  from  Northampton 
to  Deerfield  in  1670,  living  there  "in  a  sort  of  a  hou.se  where 
he  had  dug  a  hole  or  cellar  in  the  side  hill,"  .south  of  Colonel 
Wilson's.  At  the  allotment  of  the  homesteads  in  1671,  he 
built  a  house,  on  what  lot  is  not  known. 

In  1672,  the  town  of  Hatfield,  complaining  that  their  north 
boundary  was  obstructed  by  the  Pocuintuck  line,  it  was  ac- 
cordingly established  where  it  now  is. 

The  same  year  Samuel  Hinsdell  petitioned  the  town  of 
Dedham.  to  appoint  a  committee  of  .suitable  persons  to  regu- 
late the  affairs  of  the  new  .settlement.  No  heed  being  paid 
to  this  request,  the  petitioners  renewed  it  the  next  year,  urg- 
ing their  distress  by  reason  of  their  remoteness  from  other 
plantations.  Either  directly  or  indirectly,  through  Dedham, 
their  prayer  was  heard  by  the  General  Court,  which  in  1673, 

"In  ans'  to  the   peticon  of Samuel  Hinsdell,  Samson  Frary 

&c,  the  Court allow  the  petitioners  the  liberty  of  a  Township 

and  doe  therefore  grant   them  such   an   addition to  the  8000 

acres  formerly  granted as   t'lat   the   whole    be seven 

miles  square,  provided  that  an  able  &:  orthodox  minister  w"'in  three 

yeares  be    settled, and  doe  appointt Lef.  Wm  Allys, 

Tho"  Meakins,  Sen  &  Sergent  Isaack  (iraues,  w"'  Lef  Samuel  Smith, 

M',  Peeter  Tylton,  &  Samuel  Hinsdell or  any  fower  of  them, 

to  admit  inhabitants,  grant  lands,  &  order  all  their  prudentiall  af- 
faires till  they  shall  be  in  a  capacity,  by  meet  persons  from  among 
themselues,  to  manage  their  owne  affaires."' 

During  the  two  succeeding  years,  this  committee  was  not 

'Mass.  Records,  IV.  Part  II.  558. 


104 


IRUK   STORIKS   OK   XKW    I;N(;1w\NI)   CM'IIVKS. 


idle.  There  were  claims  to  be  satisfied,  and  disi)utes  con- 
cerning land  titles  to  be  adjusted.  Anion^  other  jj^rants 
was  one  of  "20  Akars  ca  land  and  Allsoe  a  hoanie  lott, 
to  Uchard  Weler  and  his  heirs  forever:— of  a  hoanie  lott, 
and  Allsoe  a  twelve  co?nmon  Lott  of  ;/)  Akars  to  Sergeant 
Plimpton  and  his  heirs  forever  : — and  to  Zebediah  Williams 
a  house  lott  of  4  Akars  :  "  on  condition  of  their  residing  there- 
on for  the  space  of  four  years  from  their  (irst  occupation. 
To  Mr.  vSamucl  Mather,  the  Dedham  church  lot  was  awarded, 
"and  an  S  common  lotte  more  in  the  most  convenient  place — 
48  Akars  in  all,"  on  the  .same  condition. 

In  1673,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two,  he  began  his  labors 
as  first  minister  of  Deerfield.  He  had  been  graduated  two 
years  before  at  Harvard,  and  was  a  nephew  of  the  distin- 
guished Increase  Mather,  and  cousin  to  the  more  learned  Cot- 
ton Mather. 

In  the  fall  of  1674,  Moses  Crafts,  "was  licensed  to  keep  an 
Ordinary  at  Pocumtuck," — the  word  tavern  or  ale-house  was 
offensive  to  our  Puritan  fathers, — "and  to  sell  wines  and  strong 
liquors  for  one  year,  provided  he  keep  good  order  in  his 
house," 

Inhabitants  came  in  gradually,  men  began  to  "stub  up" 
their  home  lots,  and  the  infant  town,  now  known  by  the  name 
of  Deerfield  from  the  number  of  those  animals  in  its  wood- 
lands, seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  a  prosperous  growth. 

The  savages  still  hunted,  fished,  and  fowled,  in  the  woods 
and  waters  of  Pocumtuck,  maintaining  entire  friendliness  to- 
wards the  settlers.  Often  Goodwife  Stockwell,  cumbered 
with  much  care  about  the  minister's  dinner,  would  be  startled 
at  her  work,  by  the  dusky  shadow  of  an  old  squaw  gliding  in 
at  her  doorway  to  bring  her  a  mat  or  a  basket,  expecting  a 
few  beans  or  a  trifle  in  return  ;  or  the  Indian  hunter  .strode 
through  the  little  village  with  a  haunch  of  venison  on  his 
shoulder,  to  barter  with  Moses  Crafts  for  tobacco  or  powder  ; 


■BnnRnaR 


Sl:rTl,KMK\T  ciK  a   IKUNTIEk  TOWN. 


105 


or  his  y„u„^.  wife  with  hur  ln-ight-cye,l  papponsc  athcrb-,ck 
pcui-cd  w„n,lcr!ngly  in  at  the  <l„„r  „f  the   itlie  1,„.  ,„,,.,  ,," 

con::,".'  r:  z:,j^^jt"""  -'-^  "'-^  ''■^■•'""■^'  "-■ 

tunes  „f  Yolk  ,„  Wltls!,,  '  ""''  """«  '"  '^'  «"«  "''' 

Hn.e.  at  Swa„.e;Vti:^^^:-,™- ;■'-;■:- 

mucif       1  .  "  ^^''^'•'  ^'"^'^  ^Hscributed  it  among  the  Nip 

muck  sachems;     wherennnn    n,..,7.  i        ,    ^  i-uu  iMp. 

r^sf  r  'f  ■■ '"  ■ -«  =' =:.' 

cvuao  e.  m  the  Connecticut  va  ley,  the  carnival  nf  Ki^  /. 
opened  with  the  Sugar  Loaf  f...hf  L  ,1  ''^''1'"'^^  °^  ^^^od 
Thp  rir>f....f         r    ■,  ^  ^"^'  ^"  ^^^  autumn  of  167c 

1  ne  detection  of  the  Pof-iimfiw.i.  t^  v  •  ,    .  *W5- 

w!:f-;s:s.r;-Jrofu,etTu'- 

axe  for  his  winters  fire ;  or  ereepin,  st'Iu^ny  tt'th'e tlbin 


— ^^-T^PWW" 


U«0 


I  06 


TRUE    STORIES   OF    NEW    ENOLAND   CAPTIVES. 


whose  occupants  were  wont  to  greet  him  with  kindness,  he 
tore  the  child  from  its  mother's  arms  as  she  I'-lled  it  to  rest, 
and  with  one  blow  of  his  tomahawk,  silenced  its  cries  forever. 
"A    distressing    sense   of   instant  danger,"  pervaded   every 
breast.     The  churches  everywhere  were  before  the  Lord  with 
humiliation  and  prayer,  and  pious  preachers  admonished  their 
tlocks,  that  their  sufferings  were  directly  chargeable  to  their 
sins.     From  the  very  midst  .  f  the  alarm.  Parson  Stoddard 
writing  to  Increase  Mather,  at  Boston,  urges  the  need  of  a 
reformation.     "Many  sins,"  he  says,  "are  grown  so  in  fash- 
ion, that  it  is  a  question  whether  they  be  sins,"  and  begs  him 
to  call  the  Governor's  attention  especially  to  "that  intolerable 
pride  in  clothes  and  hair,  and  the  toleration  of  so  many  tav- 
erns, especiall>  in  Boston,  and  suffering  home  dwellers  to 
be  tippling  therein."     "It  would  be  a  dreadful  token  of  the 
displeasure  of  God,"  he  adds,  "if  these  afflictions  pass  away 
without   much   spiritual    advantage."     Mr.    ^Slather,  jotting 
down   hastily  for  the   printer,  the  intelligence   that  comes 
post   from    Hadley,    moralizes   thus:    "It   is  as  if   the    Lord 
should  say  He  hath  a  controversy  with  every  plantation,  and 
therefore  all  had    need  to  repent  and  reform    their  ways." 
"This  sore  contending  cf  God  with  us  for  our  sins,"  writes 
John  Pynchon  to  his  absent  son,  "unthankfulness  for  former 
mercies  and  unfaithfulness  under  our  precious  enjoyments, 
hath  evidently  demonstrated  that  He  is  very  angry  with  this 
country,  and  hath  given  the  heathen  a  large  commission  to 
destroy."     And  Minister  Hubbard,  from  his  Ipswich  stiuly, 
where  rumors  come  flying  in  of  tl  -^  untimely  cutting  off  of 
the  flower  of  Essex  by  Indian  hacohet,  groans  out,  "God  grant 
that  by  the  fire  of  all  these  judgments,  we  may  be  purged 
from  our  dross  and  become  a  more  refined  people,  as  vessels 
fitted  for  our  Master's  use." 

The  inhabitants  of  Deerfield,  warned  by  repeated  attacks, 
had  been  driven  from  their  homes  and  were  huddled  togeth- 


Btf.^«:a-rr.s 


t- ■'«»M'tE-r«PK..»r  ij^wsij  >  ■■'■'■ijuiyaragbr- 


SETTLEMENT   OF   A    FRONTIER    TOWN. 


107 


little  settlement  in  isho.     wi"i  ■•emnant  ef  their 

cli.in.s  on  their    nm-cle,?^;  °.  '■"  -"'^'^Sifling  bands  of  In. 

women  wa  e  ed  ",  w.  l'™",  P'"'"'  ""'''  "^'■'  f™'''^.  'he 
some  bel<nia™e.r;  !'!"'"""■  '"  •■""  "«"">•  "^  f^-''^  '«t 
day  was   thick  wihf  ",™  '■"  "'«''"'•''"•     The  noon- 

dread,  hauned    1 1  d  ,1  ■"'"•  '■'",''  "  "'°"-^'''"''   Ph'-'ntom^  of 

Wind  ^hriera:r;r;:rur;;^-- i™t;^^^^^^^  '"- 

proaohil;  f^e  t  d    h    "^ '"f";,"T  "^'^  '-"P  "^   '"e  ap! 

fore  the  Septen!ter  ^le        V^",    \lf™t  '"  ""^  ^^^^^  ^'=- 
ants.    Compelled  at  Z,\  "^  *"■■  "'''''^ffe  assail. 

families  in  1*^,0  bet'tr'ot'rt  ""T'^    "'  '''^•-'""■-  '"■■  "^eir 
field  reh,,.ta„tlv  o,  "  ^'T.      '  ■^'^"''•■■"ents,  the  men  of  Deer. 

won  withrh^:::ir:ftretr'r  "■"---  '->'  •-- 
la/tp:^  o:f thi ::::: ::;:: '^rvif  •  ?^  ^'°'"™  -  ™ 

treasures  of  thrifty  1  on.ef  '^e  feather  beds  and  other 

the  mareh  fo  a'dirb  Z  f^TT'l" '1'  ''-'P'""'  ^*°P-  """ 
saw  the  day  breakim.  .T  I,  ^'""''"'^  *"h  which  they 

their  way  1^3^  the  me ,  '"°""'^'''"'  '^^  "^^^  "-^"-J^d 
-ornin/the  ,8^  of  SepttmbeT  Z-T""'  ""■"  "'^""-"^ 
of  mingled  relief  that  t^fr  '''  ™''  ""  'I°»bt,  one 

resolute  confitr2  tt  thev  ^,  ''T"'"'  "'"  '=""->•  '''"'l  "^ 
ocenpy  the  field  ot^^ih.LtTo:  f";™ '"""  ^P""*^'  '° 
well.     No  foreshadowin^of  ?hei    a^ful  fat'  "''"""'  '"'^ 

When  the  few  th^t^  apXid't'h'^rhT  fhe^^  ~' 


I08  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


known  before  as  Muddy  Brook,  had  been  baptized  anew  and 
consecrated  forever,  with  the  blood  of  eighteen  of  the  sturdy 
yeomanry  of  Pocumtuck,  and  many  a  valiant  soldier  besides. 
Goodwife  Hinsdale  wept  for  her  husband  and  three  stalwart 
sons  slain  in  the  fight,  and  remembered  with  unavailing 
penitence,  how  the  year  before  she  had  flouted  his  authority. 
Upon  the  ear  of  William  JSmead,  mourning  for  his  boy  of 
fifteen,  Mr.  Mf.ther's  Latin  ''Dulcc  ct  dccoruni  est,  pro  patria 
inori,''  fell  unheeded;  and  vainly  did  brave  Sergeant  Plymp- 
ton  strive  to  hush  the  wailing  of  his  old  wife  Jane,  for  Jona- 
than, the  staff  of  their  declining  years,  now  lost  forever. 

After  the  massacre  at  Muddy  Brook,  the  garrison  was  with- 
drawn from  Deerfield,  and  the  enemy  soon  laid  in  ashes  all 
that  remained  of  that  hopeful  plantation.  Some  brave  spirits, 
however,  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  resettlement.  These,  exas- 
perated by  the  news,  in  the  early  summer  of  1676,  that  the 
Indians,  not  only  had  their  rendezvous  at  the  Great  Falls, 
where  they  were  laying  in  large  stores  of  fish  for  their  next 
campaign,  but  were  actually  planting  corn  on  the  rich  inter- 
vales of  Deerfield,  gladly  volunteered,  under  the  heroic  Tur- 
ner, to  dislodge  them.  By  his  defeat  of  the  Indians  at  the 
Swamscott  Falls,'  Philip's  war,  so  called,  was  virtually  ended. 
A  few  months  later,  the  pallid  hands  of  that  once  haughty 
chieftain  were  shown  as  a  spectacle  in  the  streets  of  Boston. 
His  ghastly  head  set  up  on  a  pole  in  Plymouth,  afforded 
the  occasion  for  a  public  thanksgiving,  and  the  body  of 
Weetamoo,^  his  constant  ally,  more  implacable  in  her  resent- 
ment than  even  he  had  been,  lay  stranded  by  the  ebbing 
tide,  the  once  beauteous  form  now  sodden  and  repulsive,  the 
long  hair,  which  the  proud  dame  was  wont  to  dress  so  care- 
fully, all  knotted  with  sea-tangle,  the  features  once  so  gaily 

'Ever  since  known  as  Turner's  Falls. 

'Squaw  Sachem  of  Pocasset  married  first  the  brother  of  Philip. 


SETTLEMENT   O.  a   ,konT,E.<   TOWN 

" . ■  109 

they  feared  lest  a  union  of  these^n  ^^''"'■'■^^^  '°  them,  and 
-h.ch  would  deprive  iC^t:Z:TT-  Z'"'  "'  ^f-*". 
tage.  Tliougl,  the  presenee  ofTrLv r  u  ^""'""tuck  heri: 
the  valley,  made  any  attemw  '  ^"^ '?""^^'^°"»^'i--'n«  in 
Quentin  StocUwel,  wolid  noT^   dis^aded 'f"'"! '■■^^"^°«-^' 

tha,  h         '"  '  P''*^"""^  history  bittkH         ,°  ""'  P'^"'?"'^'-'- 
that  he  was  from  Dedham     TheW^  "  ''"°"'"  '-"•«ept 

ous  tax  lists,  from  ,663  to  67,  wh  ."  "'"'  ^P?'^"'^ «"  vari- 
to  Hatfield,  and  thence  the  „!:  T  ^^  '■*'"°^'^''  ^^«h  his  wife 
Rev.  Mr.  Mather  f:nrd  a  „"  e'  ZT  '°  "f^^'^"'  ^'-^  '  - 
was  a  man  of  eners-v  n„^  ""  "''"^  'hem.    That  he 

the  only  DeerfieMr,:"th:";„The''"'r"^  ^'•^  '''^  -^^'i 
begjn  to  rebuild  his  ruined  home  Dri  "?  °'  "''■  ''"-^ 
the  Indians,  who  burned  h,s  halTfini  ^  T  ^''°'"  ^''  '""^'^  by 
most  probably  to  Hatiield  wl  e  "wth  l""",'  "'"^  «^'<'  ^^^"^ 
pie,  he  spent  the  winter     hI  1    """■  'Jeerfield  peo. 

tent.     The  birth  of  it  ehild  mad''  v"''™^'  '"  f™"  -n. 
shelter  him,,elf  under  hi.s  own  Toof't     "  """"^  ""-^us  to 
mer  he  succeeded  in  nerlTJ     '°°f-"'ee.  and  the  ne.xt  sum 
Stebbins,  and  one  or  fv™'  l^l^f  ^  ''^i"""  P'.>'-P'o".  Ben^; 
field,  where  the  former  had    'i'  '°f' """  "'th  him  to  Deer 
eighteen  feet  long  ''"^  ""^''""^y  b«iit  himself  a  house 

year  Z  ^alseT^cf  the'^f  "')  "'  ^^^P'-"-.   .«77      A 
onhisvalley,reliev: rof'tfCreh""  ""•  ^"^  ""=  P-P'^ 


■MP 


m^ju't" 


I  lO 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


seventeen   captives,  mostly   women    and  children,  towards 
Deerfield. 

It  was  near  sunset  of  one  of  those  tranquil.  New  England 
autumn  days,  we  know  so  well.  Naught  of  melancholy  was  in 
the  song  piped  by  a  belated  August  cricket,  nd  the  striped 
snake  crawled  from  his  hole  to  bask  in  the  sunshine,  as  if  he 
half  believed  summer  had  come  again.  The  witch-hazel 
threw  into  the  lap  of  October  a  wealth  of  blossoms,  which 
June  could  never  extort  from  her.  A  crown  of  gold, 
gemmed  with  opal  and  amethyst,  rested  on  the  brow  of  the 
western  hills;  the  swamps  were  ablaze  with  the  flame  colored 
sumachs.  The  mountain,  a^eady  in  shadow,  seemed  like 
some  massive  temple,  where  in  stoles  of  scarlet  and  purple 
and  gold,  stood  maple  and  oak  and  chestnut,  lik^  cardinal, 
bishop  and  priest,  to  offer  a  sacrament  of  peace.  No  sound 
in  the  woodlands,  save  now  and  then  as  a  leaf  rustled  down 
softly  and  was  silent.  The  squirrels  as  they  frolicked 
among  the  branches,  ceased  their  chatter,  startled  by  the 
echo  of  Quentin  Stockwell's  hammer,  as  it  was  borne  up  from 
the  valley.  A  light  heart  was  in  his  bosom,  for  he  thought 
how  snugly  his  little  family  would  be  housed  before  winter 
set  in,  and  faster  fell  the  strokes  as  the  sun  declined.  Near 
by,  sat  little  Samuel  Russell,  watching  with  delight  the  great 
chips  as  they  fell  from  under  John  Root's  axe,  when  suddenly 
"with  great  shouting  and  shooting,"  the  Indians  came  upon 
them.  Dropping  their  tools,  and  seizing  their  guns,  the  men 
fled  towards  the  swamp,  where  Root  was  instantly  shot,  and 
Stockwell  after  brave  resistance,  was  at  last  overpowered 
and  compelled  to  surrender  or  die. 

"I  was  now  by  iiiy  own  House,"  says  Quentin,  "which  the  Indians 
burnt  the  last  year  and  1  was  about  to  build  up  again,  and  there  I 
had  some  hopes  to  escape  from  them.  There  was  a  Horse  just  by 
which  they  bid  me  take.  I  did  so,  but  made  no  attempt  to  escape 
thereby  because  the  enemy  was  near,  and  the   beast  dull  and  slow, 


-  -^iWMUIPWWU  JJ»'ltJ 


;»w«iMii'iii>f>mmnipi"i 


-^^^JJ'iTf 


^™-0,ENT   OK  ,    ,«„„,^,^   ,^^^^^,_^ 


"ear  to  the,,,,  and  so  fell' till  Lo  the  f  "  '  ""'"  ""'  »">= 

the  company  „f  other  Cai>t,ve,Jh,^'  "  '°'"'  "''^  '  l>™"Kht  into 
Hatfield,  Which  were  X  ,7  '  ,  e","."",":' ^™"«'" --^f"  ™ 
".atterofjoyand  so,™,,  both    to  ;  '  th"  r    "'   """""«'"   -- 

vve  took  up  our  place  for  rest    i\L  '''  '"''^^  f"'-ther,  before 

o"  the  east  side  of  the  n.:::t'ai:  ""  ''''  '"  '  '''^^^'  P^-  of'  ^V^d 
^Ve  were  kept  bound  all  that         ..      -r, 

^"^.:-!r:it::?T"--"'-'^^-^^^'''"'"^'-' 

onyoK.e.,a„d  Owlfr ''  '  A^  ^J -"'  ™ade  .™„e  „o,-  „, 
">.ght  not  ,o.e  one  another,  .  d  i  Lf^^'f '  '"  '"e  end  that  they 
"'vered  by  the  English.  °"°'""'  "'ey  n,igl,t  not  be  dj- 

About  the  break    of   D 
g'-eat  river  at  Pecnn,ptnck  Kivir  n*,'"!'"'  ^T  """  «»'  <'ver  the 
ho"rs.     There  the  Indian,  ,„  "ke  I,'  '''       """'=  "''"''>  -bout  two 
<he.r  Captives  and  Slain   as   thei/ ',!       """"  '''""  '"«  -"i^e    of 
great  danger  ;  A  quarrel  aro  e  lb.  'I     ''°"  "^  ^  again  h 

hree  took  ™e.     1  .hough.  I "nst  be  k mT' .        "  '''"'"'■^^  '  »■-.  f " 
^o  when   they  put  it  to  n,e  wW  1  w       ,        '""  ""=  «""-ove  sie 
me;  so  they  ag,eed   to  have   ,M  i  si       '      '""  "'""'  '"^'ans  tolk 
Master,  an.l  he  was   „,y  cMe      ,:s:r:h:  l"",  J   '''  "^  'h- 
and  thus  was  I  fallen  i„to  the   han  u     ""  '""'"'''  ""  "e  first 

Company;  as  Ashpelon  the  I„di  n  ■""   ^"^''J' >™rst  of  all  the 

wasall  along  very  kind  to  ,,      a",  T'  '°"  '"^^  '^^-h  -Pt    n 

J"  th,s  place  they  gave   us     „„    v    *^''''"  ™""''"  '»  'he  Engl  - 
™n,  the  English.'  ^-hit  ^J^  ^j"-'^  which  they  had  bro^ 
lown  to  bring  away  what  th  y^co    d       T '""  ""   "^"  f°«h  'o 
-  out  Of  the  ..eadow  they  ^t^ourtor.rHo^sr :hich:r; 


112 


TRUE   STORIES   OK   NEW    ENGLAND   CAl'TIVES. 


had  there  taken.  From  hence  we  went  up  about  the  Falls,  where  we 
crossed  that  River  again,  and  whilst  I  was  going,  I  fell  right  liown 
lame  of  my  old  Wounds  that  I  had  in  the  War,  and  whilst  1  was 
thinking  I  should  therefore  be  killed  by  the  I'.uiians,  and  what 
Death  I  should  die,  my  pain  was  suddenly  gone  and  I  was  much  en- 
couraged again." 

As  they  recro.ssed  the  river  at  Pe.skeompskut  Falls,  the  Hat- 
field eaptives  remembered  with  satisfaction,  how  Benjamin 
Waite  had  piloted  brave  Turner  to  his  great  victory  at  this 
very  spot;  and  a  gleam  of  hope  cheered  their  hearts  at  the 
thottght,  that  he  would  not  be  less  active  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
foe,  who  now  bore  his  helpless  wife  and  children  into  cruel 
captivity.     Stockwell  continues, 

"We  had  about  eleven  horses  in  that  Company,  which  the  Indians 
used,  to  carry  Burthens,  and  to  carry  Women.  It  was  afternoon 
when  we  now  crossed  that  river.  We  travelled  up  it  till  night,  and 
then  took  up  our  Lodging  in  a  dismal  place,  and  were  staked  down  and 
spread  out  on  our  backs;  and  so  we  lay  all  night,  yea  so  we  laid 
many  nights.  They  told  me  their  I^aw  was,  that  we  should  lie  so 
nine  nights,  and  by  that  time,  it  was  thought  we  should  be  out  of 
our  knowledge.  The  manner  of  staking  down  was  thus  :  our  Arms 
and  Legs  stretched  out  were  staked  fast  down,  and  a  Cord  about 
our  necks,  so  that  we  could  stir  no  wayes.  The  first  night  of  stak- 
ing down,  being  much  tired,  I  slept  as  comfortable  as  ever.  The 
next  day  we  went  up  the  river,  and  crossed  it  and  at  night  lay  in 
Squakheag  meadows,  and  while  we  lay  in  those  meadows,  the  In- 
dians went  a-hunting,  and  the  English  army  came  out  after  us." 

Dividing  into  many  companies  to  elude  pursuit,  they  again 
cros.sed  the  river.  About  thirty  miles  above  Northfield  they 
re-crossed  it  to  the  west,  and  being  quite  out  of  fear  of  the 
English,  lay  there  encamped  about  three  weeks.  On  thi.s 
last  march  Stockwell's  three  masters  went  off  to  hunt,  leav- 
ing him  with  only  one  Indian,  who  fell  sick,  so  that  as  he  says, 

"I  was  fain  to  carry  his  Gun  and  Hatchet,  and  had  opportunity  and 


g-»~^.!i!-. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  A   FRONTIER   TOWN. 


that t't  c  r :;r' '"":  r  -- »-^. '- <«<■  -,  ro. 

because  if  oL  s,^^^  "^'''r"  ,'^  -'"".T  '"  one  ano^., 

■  -i-ger  the  res.  .hat  c.; j;;;';^;.";;;;,:™';'.!'"™^=  '^^  ^-'-.s,  ,.,„,i 

sistecl.     No  knight  ie'le  7    K    '"  '■'^'"  ""^  ^'■■■^'-  '•'"''  '■- 

Sidney  puttinglside  t1  e  pr  ff  re^'cn:  "of"    .''"'.  "'^  "^''"^ 
vered  lips,  more  dese,-vp«  , ,  ^      ™"=''  f™'"  his  fe- 

well  refLnsHbertr.t;i/'7'''"''' '■''■'"  «"^"''"  S'O'-'k- 

gain  n,i,,ht  1>rove  I  noth  ,-  '  o  :''  wf  •,'  '^  '"^^^'  ''=-^'  ''''^ 
Stockwell  says,  '•     ^^'"'«   encamped  here, 

1  was  one  .hat  was  .oLbu.s"''  ''"'''="''"'' "'•"-■"l^ 

l^enjamin  ^Vait  his  v.ife  .,'e  t^^  :  Z'T,    '""""""  ""'"'"='■•  '•"'" 
^^  l.urnt,  yet  i  perceived  so„'   '      ,e  S,,  c  ".7  ""'  "''^"  ™^  '° 
iMulerstcod  of  their  lansuaee-  .h„        ''«'"'  "'""""to,  so  much  I 
"f  next  dayes  work,  .he  ^^dh  '     '  "'^^'  '  '^""'''  "•"  '''eep  for  fear 
'lown  .o  sleep,  and  slept  ^Z      rS  7'"'  "'"'  """  »-'«•  'aid 
J  wen.  „„t  and  broug     "  w'l^,     '„^  *•"«"■'"  «--  all  loose,  then 
noise  on  purpose,  but  non    awaked       t""'  ""=  "''•  ^""  '"'-""=  a 
would  wake,  we  n.igh.  kil,  .;:„,':  i     ,     "t","  '"'  °' '^^  '^"^''^^ 
way  all  the  Guns  and  Hatchets-  h  „   !        *^'  '    <^"'"^"i  out  of  .he 
"-■ngs  where  .hey  were  again     ',''    J,  '""  'f"^  "''-  '  P"t  all 
burnt,  our  Master  and  some  other    soate  f"  '''  ''""=  '°  "'= 

prevented  in  .his  place."  '         '"''  "">  ""'I  «!«=  Evd  was 

nes.s,  ..no  pen  i^o^uiZfl-^X^s  ^  ''Z'1  ''^^  -''- 
the  council  fire  and  hellish  ra^f  1      '  '•'°"'''  describe:" 

derstood  that  -some  we  f  desWdTl^'"'"''  '^"'^"""  »"- 
•7«es  at  length  satiated  wMn^f'" ,";!  ''^'-  '"'=  .^--ge 
.^■eep,  their  t..st.al  precautions  ^^^e^! 70^1';^!^: 


114  TKUK   STOKIKS   ()K    NEW    KN(;i,AND   CATTIVES. 


his  soul  racked  with  torturing  anguish,  meditating  on  the 
chances  of  escape;  his  desperate  resohition  to  attempt  it,  and 
noisily  replenishing  the  fire  with  the  double  purpose  of  test- 
ing the  vigilance  of  his  foes  and  the  wakefulness  of  his 
friends;  cautiously  removing  the  weapons,  where  they  may 
be  ready  for  his  purpose,  and  then,  as  hope  dies  within  his 
breast,  as  carefull  -  replacing  them,  with  the  despairing  con- 
sciousness that  failure  would  only  hasten  the  captives'  doom, 
with  never  once  a  thought  of  leaving  them  to  their  fate  and 
seeking  safety  for  himself  in  flight, — all  this  is  pictured  with 
awful  vividness. 

At  this  period,  there  was  trouble  between  the  Mohawks  and 
the  Christian  Indians,  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  the  latter 
to  pay  their  customary  tribute  to  the  warlike  lords  of  the  Mo- 
hawk valley. 

Six  Mohawks,  fully  armed,  had  been  seized  near  Boston 
while  hunting,  and  thrown  into  prison  by  the  authorities  there. 
A  party  of  Mohawks  with  a  scalp,  and  two  Natick  squaws  as 
captives,  having  passed  through  Hatfield  on  the  very  day  be- 
fore the  assault  upon  that  town,  the  opinion  prevailed  that  it 
was  made  by  them.  Distracted  with  grief,  Benjamin  Waite, 
one  of  the  bereaved  husbands,  hastened  immediately  to  Al- 
bany to  demand  redress,  but  returned  with  the  assurance 
that  the  New  York  Indians  were  innocent  of  the  affair.  A 
fortnight  had  elapsed  since  the  capture,  and  the  distressed 
people  of  Hatfield  could  learn  nothing  of  the  fate  of  their 
friends,  when  Benoni  Stebbins,  having  escaped  from  his  cap- 
tors, returned  with  definite  informaticm  concerning  them. 
His  relation  as  given  by  himself  to  the  Northampton  post- 
master, October  6th,  1667,  is  a  curious  document.  He  states 
that  his  captors  were 

"river  Indians,  Norwattucks,  save  only  one  Narragansett,  twenty- 
six  in  all,  eighteen  fighting  men,  two  squaws,  the  rest  old  men  and 
boys;  that  they  came  from  the  French  whither  they  had  fled  at  the 


t^n.l  of  the  war,  and  intended  to  Z,Z77,,  ~ 

"ves,  having  been  encouradjte  I  ,h?,         T  7""  '"  '""  "»^  -^"P- 

ai>ie>:e  for  them."  ^      '"■"  "'"•>'  '''""><■>  have  eight  pounds 

Frin':;;  S:r„trd'::r?.;r,  "''"^"";"^'  — '- «.-  the 

either  in  the  sprinro  ■„  tr  inV"'  '?""  ""  "^■■'"  ""-. 
The  party  haying  encampe  t hi  ,  ^',  '''■"'  """■'^'••'^  "''»  time." 
we  have  alreadylen  ^  Sttt'il's  "  ■*' ™  '^""'^''-W.- 
company  wa.s  .sent  to  "Wa^ht  !  ,  n"''  "'"'  ''' '""  °f  'he 
Indians  that  had  lived  U^rcrlt;;;,'"  ''''''  '""■'>'  '""'- 
accompanied   them,  and    hlvino-      !     "'"  ^''^       «t«W.in.s 

«juawsanda,naretopielchuciM  f"'  °"'  ^"'"   t^™ 

on  the  mare  and  rid  tm  he  t  re  f  th"'"''  ""^  '''^■^  """  "*?"'  "P" 
foot  and  .so  escaped  to  Hadlev  "'''"'•  """^  "''•'"  '""  °n 

without  vituals."  '^^^  '''•''"S'  'wo  days  and  a  half 

Wachusett  hills    n«  r^u^ 

Philips  war,  initd^d  a  m,c.h'':frr°/  '^'  "'.^  '"■^'"-'-  "' 
m  our  day.  7  ,e  expedition  allnder^  f  "^'''''P'"'^  "•''tent  than 
chou's  letter  which  follovvs  \s  1^^  ,  "  "^tioned  in  Py„. 

way  Ponds."  '' '"'  ^"""'"S  been  made  to  "]Vasha 

a  M^ -mTcXmr  "h::""'^*  "'"'"  "^«^='^.  Wonaioncct 
'he  English,  a^;"4  •/  X~h'''=  '^""  friendly  toward 
often  held  meetings,  was  sniri?'"  ^^''°»".  wgwam  Mr.  Eliot 
pie.  by  Indians  from  Ca'„da  ^n1  ™^'  """^  *™'^  "'  '"-^  Peo- 
It  i«  quite  po.ssible  tCtVl,  J"  '''™'"«<^  '"  return. 
Stebbins  was  sent  to  seek  tlti.s  v  '"'  accompanied  by 

Stebbins's  return  was  forwa  d  d  imlrr  T',  '"'^'"'g^nce  of 
chon  at  Springfield  who  ./  ""mediately  to  Major  Pyn. 
letter  to  ilbany,  Tn  ^  ZZ7 it?"'''''''  '"'  '""-'"S 
unclenake  the  recovery  of'tr„:L'rca";;;r'"  ''"''-''  '" 

service.  ""'''     "="  "a^,  for  his  Majesties  special 


ii6 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


SpRlNOFlF.l.l),  Oct.  5,  1677. 
dipt.  Salisbury — 

Worthy  Sir.— 

Yesterday  morning  I  rec'tl 
yo'r  kind  linis  by  Bcnj.  Waite,  whereby  I  understand  yo'r  sympathy 
with  ns  in  o'r  sad  disaster  by  ye  Indians:  and  yo'r  readiness  in  mak- 
ing greate  Inciuiries,  and  greate  foirwardness  to  do  what  I'ossible 
lyes  in  you  for  us,  w'ch  1  have  abundant  cause  to  acknowletlge,  and 

do  most  thankfully  accept and    as    to    your    opinion  of    the 

Maquas  being  free,  and  assuring  me  of  their  innocency,  I  do  fully 
concur  with  you,  having  satisfaction  fr'in  what  you  wrote,  and  from 
Benj.  Waite's  relation.  Hut  to  put  it  out  of  all  doubt,  (rod  in  His 
Providence  hath  sent  us  one  of  o'r  captivated  men,  Benoni  Stebbirfis 

by  name,  w'ch  is   ye  occasion  of   t'.iese  lines  to  yo'rselt So 

desire  ye  to  put  ye  Maquas  upon  Psueing  their  and  our  ene  "^lys,  there 
being  greate  likelihood  of  their  overtaking  them.  Benoni  Stebbins 
came  into  Hadley  last  night  in  ye  night,  whose  relation  was  sent  to 
me,  w'h  being  but  an  hour  since  1  had  it,  1  Psently  resolved  upon 
sending  I'ost  to  you." 

Then  follovv.s  a  mintite  account  of  the  capture  and  flight 
toward  Canada  with  vStebbins'.s  escape. 

"He  says,"  continues  Pynchon,  "that  one  of  the  Indians  from  Nash- 
away  Bonds,  seems  to  be  a  counsellor  w'h  they  have  consulted  much; 
and  spoke  of  sending  to  the  English,  but  at  last  resolved  for  Cana- 
da, yet  talkt  of  making  a  forte  a  greate  way  up  the  river,  and  abid- 
ing there  this  winter,  and  also  of  carrying  the  captives  and  selling 
ym  to  ye  P'rench,  which  he  concludes  they  resolved  on,  but  make 
but  slow  passage,  concludes  it  may  be  twenty  days  ere  they  get  to 
ye  lake  

In  hi.s  postscript  Pynchon  adds: 

"Ben  Wait  is  gone  home,  before  the  Intelligence  came  to  me.  He 
talkt  of  goeing  to  Canada  before,  and  I  suppose  will  rather  be  For- 
ward to  it  now  than  Backward." 

So  good  an  opportunity  for  opening  a  correspondence  with 
the  New  York  Indians,  with  a  view  to  their  pacification  and 


-•!'  •■'  '1-".""I  for  the  NaVick  sen'  «1'*-'^  "'  '"^''^  •'^'•■''^"••-'. 
•■'Samst  future  <lepre,lati,,n,s  ul,e  n  r"  f  '''^'"""■'"■■••'"ce 
-  with  <Mp,on.,'ti.  assur:  .s  "f 't  e'^  :;;  "'f™-^'  '"t-th- 
Massachusetts  f„r  the  Maequas,  '       ''    '■^''^P'-*'-''"  "f 

"  by  Ashpel.,„.  the  c^pt         ,;;;";  ;7f«'-  i"f"™,ed  o'f 

treated   the   K„j.,i,sh  with  the  ut,rs^\;,"' '''■''•"'-'"'»'" ''••'vu 

shrewd  mediati.,,,  saved  then  ,n '  '     'h  "^'"'  '■""'  "■'"'»'•■ 

'leath.  ""•'"  '"'"^e  than  once  from  dreadful 

"He  met  me  aiiil  tol,|    m,.  s„.l,i,- 
"'--  spate  „f  „„n,i„«     s     .    :J"   "^  "^  ,"' "  •'"y.  -.I  the  J„. 

"■'""'I  ^P-ik  their  ,„i,,K    but  h    J     M    ''""'''  '"=^'  ^""".and  J, 

"'at  the  India,,  ,ha.  |e,  St'ehh, ,  '"'"^  '^""'  ■•""'  >™"''l  «y 

""  '""•'  »""■■'"  ^e  done  .^  ,:;':'  .m?'  '^"'  ""'-^  '"  '-'t,  and t; 

A  fortnight  after  th    sei      e  o  Str  1  "T"  ^'"-""^'x" 

-me  „f  the  same  partv  firei    I  e  I'n     ;■'".'■""'  '"'^  f"<="ds. 

■"if  overpowered  were'let  !       n  ,•:"■'  "'■""'^>'-  '-""d  be- 

'"  treat  for  the  release  oa^L:;-  '  .^its""  °'  '■""™'"^  -"" 

ehems  from  wi:,"  tttvtt;;™-^  "'"■"  ^°'-  ">  '^"'  '■'e  Sa- 
>t.  yet  were  willin,.  ,„  ^iTttV'Tj'"'  ™"="  'S^^''^^ 
and  tal^e  them.  Ashpelon  c  ,-.r  i  *"  '  ™'^  '°  f^"  "pon 
thi  ,  as  mischief  would  cxle'^JIt    "'  ""' '"  ^P"-"^  ^  ^-^  of 

•Vliile  thev  linp-erorl  of  fi,  • 
■s"  scarce  th/t  onf    efr''  footTad?o'"""^*"'r°^'^'°-''ecame 
whole  days  rations,  and  th^y  be'  a^  Z'TlfT.   ■"P"™''  '"  ^ 
food.    At  length   resumin,r,r^  '"""''="•  horses  for 

small  river  about  two  h  ,„ drid       ■r""^-  '^^^  ^"^^^hed  a 
Stoekweirs  reckoni,"g  where  thev    "   '""^   ^^-"^'d.  by 

"•       ""''  "'<=y  separated  into  two  com- 


n8  TRUK   STOklKS   OK   NEW    ENOI.ANn   CAPTIVKS. 


panics.  The  division  to  which  he  was  attached  passed  over 
"a  mighty  mountain,"  whicli  they  were  ei^htdays  in  crossinj^, 
though  they  "travelled  very  hard."  They  suffered  greatly 
on  this  march. 

•'Here  1  was  frozen,  aiitl  here  again  we  were  like  U)  starve.  All  the 
Indians  went  a  Ihiiiting  but  could  get  nothing;  divers  dayes  they 
Powwow'd  but  got  nothing,  then  they  desired  the  JMiglish  to  I'ray, 
and  confessed  they  could  do  nothing;  they  would  have  us  I'ray, 
and  see  what  the  Knglishman's  (rod  could  d(j.  I  Prayed,  so  did 
Sergeant  Plimpton,  in  another  place.  'I"he  Indians  reverently  at- 
tended. Morning  and  Night;  next  day  they  got  Uears:  then  they 
would  needs  have  us  desire  a  Hlessing,  and  return  Thanks  at  Meals: 
after  a  while  they  grew  weary  of  it,  and  the  Sachiin  did  forbid  us. 
When  I  was  frozen  they  were  very  cruel  towards  me,  because  I  could 
not  do  as  at  other  times.  When  we  came  to  the  Lake  we  were 
again  sadly  put  to  it  for  Provibions;  we  were  fain  to  eat  Touch- 
wood fryed  in  Bears'  (ireace. 

At  last  we  found  a  company  of  Raccons,  then  we  made  a  Keast; 
and  the  manner  was,  that  we  must  eat  all.  1  perceived  there  would 
be  too  much  for  one  time,  so  one  Indian  that  sat  next  to  me,  bid 
me  slip  away  some  to  him  under  his  Coat,  and  he  would  hide  it  for 
me  till  another  time;  this  Indian  as  soon  as  he  had  got  my  Meat, 
stood  up  and  made  a  Speech  to  the  rest,  and  discovered  me,  so  that 
the  Indians  were  very  angry,  and  gave  me  another  piece,  and  gave 
me  Raccoon's  Grease  to  drink,  which  made  me  sick  and  Vomit.  I 
told  them  I  had  enough;  so  that  ever  after  that  they  would  give 
me  none  but  still  tell  me  1  had  Raccoon  enough  ;  so  I  suffered 
mnch,  and  being  frozen  was  full  of  Pain,  and  could  sleep  but  a  lit- 
t'  must  do  my  work.     When  they  went  upon  the  lake,  they  lit 

.oose  and  killed  it,  and  staid  there  till  they  had  eaten  it  all  up. 

.dr  entering  upon  the  lake  there  arose  a  great  storm but  at 

ast  they  got  to  an  island  and  there  they  went  to  Powowing.  The 
Powwow  said  that  Benjamin  Waite  and  another  Man  was  coming 
and  that  storm  was  raised  to  cast  them  away.  This  afterwards  ap- 
peared to  be  true,  though  then  I  believed  it  not." 


...  >*^ir«ual  a(>*aBBrt*."JU6»4n>'*»*W)!'W^*' 


fMiBSHMIlMlitflll 


Mih 


__J^^^^^]^^^  A    FKONTIKK   TOWN. 

Continued  storms  L-or.f  tu  .  .       ~~  " • 

for  aWt  three  w^.s^i^.f  rSu^LTT  ^  "^'"""^ 
-selves  were  alm.ist  starve,!      ^  "■'  '"'''''"»  'hem. 

f!"f     TI,e  lake  bein,!   J,   'V^tt:   r"    "•''■^   "^y"  «"'"out 

hunger  a,u,  p!.i„,  afte'     e  t  ed  W,  '"•'"  '"'?''"•     >'•""'  «'"> 
«P-U."  eo,ni,„,es  the  na.Tat,,"  '"'"  ""^  *^''''  ''^  ^™^  » 

'■J  I'ail  net   strength  to  rise  i,K,h,    I,,,,   p 

'■'""g,  .md  K.„  „|,„„  i,_  „„,  t,,,,*^;"  '•'",/  "•^■I>t  t„  a  tree  that  lay 

sharp  weather:  J  c.H,„,ed  ,    er  1    I'l         '"  T  '"«'"■  »""  -""-y 

««  thi„ki,„.  „f  „,^„|     ^,„     ;   ;*;     '"     1  n.nst  d,e  there;  whilest  i 

I-  -.nc  to  ,„e,  and  called  n,e  „;:":;  ;7'  '  -.-'-"'  Hi™; 

g"  l>f  n»,st  knock  ,,,e  „„  ,h,  |,,„|  V       '"'"  "«  ''  '  conl<|  „„t 

>"'  sa,v  h„„.  J  „,„  vvallovve.  i,  I  ,•  i"""  '""  "=  "'"»'  "'-  so  do; 
h^  ...ok  h.sCoat,  and  wra,  t  ,  "  .'"""  '""  ™"'"  ""'  ™e;  then 
Indians  vmh  a  sled,  one    L  I Te    „  'Z  ^     "T"'  '""''  ™"  ^^■«  '™ 

--  »»i^  No,  the,  wotdti  ca:rr„,r;::aj:;:: ,;:,::-.?  "-^.  '^e 

t'-t  at  dayli,,ht  L  and  Sa       '' R, t*  r"™''  ^V"  »  »-" 
child  taken  from  Deerfield  win,  „  '      "  '""'*?'''  ^""-^  °ld 

■strange  an.  sad  eorn^t til  "      ZteH^r  ""  "'^  "••^■-     ^ 
water,  was  called  hack  bv  the    n  li  ''P'"*^  '"'°  «>e 

i"g.s,  and  sending  the  two  ■.  '  ,  "'•  "^^°  ''"«'  ^is  stock- 
they  ran  f„nr  orl  e  ,  X-^  t  If  n"  "''"  ""  "'•^''™  g«ide, 
The  poor  little  boy  cotnlinTn:, V  T'  "''"''  "P  to  them, 
who  was  mtteh  e.xhaus"«    t   J  T"'  '"'"  •'^'"'^^well, 

"ve,forhehim.seIfCte„meit  Tf'"'  '""''"'  »"« 
well  was  then  laid  of  rieHitt?;  ''*^^''^"''°"^-  «'°^k- 
the  ice.     He  says  "T he  rest"^  d  «1^  ?l '•'"•^>'  ^""^  '"m  on 

after.    Samnel  Russel  I  „eve"  saw  more     '"f  "'""  ''""'y 
came  of  him."  "'°'^^'  "°f  knew  what  be- 

A  halt  of  three  or  fonr  days  w^as  made  at  Chambly.  where 


orvBrnBu^mmmmmmamamFmssss^ 


1 20  TRUE    STOKIES    OF   NEW    EXCLAXD    CAPTIVES. 


Stockwell  was  kindly  treated  by  the  French,  who  ^ave  him 
hasty-pudding  and  milk,  with  brandy,  and  bathed  his  frozen 
limbs  with  cold  water.  He  was  treated  with  great  civility 
by  a  young  man,  who  let  him  lie  in  his  bed,  and  would  have 
bought  him,  had  not  the  Indians  demanded  a  hundred  pounds 
for  him.  To  prevent  his  being  abused,  this  young  man  ac- 
companied Stockwell  to  Sorel. 

From  Sorel  the  captives  were  taken  to  the  Indian  lodge 
two  or  three  miles  distant,  where  the  French  visited  Stock- 
well,  and  it  being  Christmas,  thev  brought  him  cakes  and 
other  provisions.  The  Indians  having  tried  in  vain  to  cure 
him,  he  asked  for  a  chirurgeon,  at  which  one  of  them  struck 
him  on  the  face  with  his  fist.  A  Frenchman  near  bv  remon- 
strated  and  went  away,  but  soon  after,  the  Captain  of  the 
place  with  twelve  soldiers,  came  and  asked  for  the  Indian 
who  had  struck  the  Englishman.  Seizing  him,  he  told  him 
he  should  go  to  the  Bilboes  and  then  be  hanged.  The  In- 
dian was  much  terrified  at  this,  as  also  was  Stockwell,  but 
the  Frenchman  bade  him  not  to  fear,  the  Indian  durst  not 
hurt  him. 

"When  that  Indian  was  gone,"  he  says,  "I  liad  two  masters  still. 
I  asked  them  to  carry  me  to  that  Captain,  tliat  1  might  speak  for 
the  Indian.  'They  answered  1  was  a  fool;  ditl  1  think  the  French- 
man were  like  to  the  English,  to  say  one  thing  and  do  another? — 
they  were  men  of  their  words,  hut  I  prevailed  with  them  to  help  me 
thither,  and  I  spake  to  the  Captain  by  an  Interjireter,  ami  told  him 
I  desired  him  to  set  the  Indian  free,  and  told  him  what  he  had  done 
for  me,  he  told  me  he  was  a  Rogue,  and  should  he  hanged,  then  I 
spake  more  privately,  alleging  this  Reason,  because  all  the  English 
Captives  were  not  come  in,  if  he  were  hanged  it  might  fare  the  worse 
with  them  :  then  the  Captain  said,  that  was  to  be  considered  :  then 
he  set  him  at  liberty,  upon  this  condition,  that  he  should  never  strike 
me  more,  and  every  day  bring  me  to  his  House  to  eat  victuals." 

The  magnaninixty  of  his  captive  so  delighted  the  Indian 


•SETTLEMENT   OF   A    FRONTIER   TOWN. 


121 


other  Indians  shook  haTd.,  with  ,  ^  ^.'ITh'V:,'?"  ""  "''^ 
next  day  according  to  promise  S  ™.l       ,  '"'  '"*"•     T^-^ 

Jiuiig  lefi  there  a  w  ,   e,"savs  he    "r.l, ,       ■    ,. 
'HS  wife  ,„y  lingers,  who  re  e  a  f,  i  Jh!'  „  ,."'"'  ""=  ^'"P'--""  =>"<) 
"P  again  a,ul  In  for   the   chiru  feo,      I    T  '""  ''''  '™  '^P '' 
could  cure  .„e  and  toolc  it  in   h     fr       \"  '''^'"'   '"^  "'•"<'  '^''^  he 

"f  l>ain;  the  French  were  afraid   I  ,,.^ 'iV  J'  "'ght  1  was  full 

wi.l.  ...e,  and  strove  to  L  thv    t'/'"'  """  "'^  ™"^h 

"f.-ti.>,es  they  gave  „,e  bran'dv  the  ,  I'd:; , VrV""'^ '"  '^""•■ 
again,  as  he  di.l  all  the  while  til  MaV  l  V  ^'"rurgeon  came 
'>"'"'<=   till   lienjan.in    Waitec  1    f ,    '"'"""""' ""l>e  Captain's 

""'  •"  ".-ney;  pawned  :",;    "a'  t'un    "'f '"   "'"'"  ''""«  '" 

th<=  worth  „f  then,,  which  if  he  did  nT         "''      """'"  ''"^'>^>^.  or 

-  -I  .ne  f„.  one  and  tw  n tv  ZZ'"^    "  '"."f    '■'"  "'^  P"-- 

-  I  «as  sold,  and   in  (iod's  g. «    t     ,  ^^'I'^f^  «"  "°  "--ers, 
t"  .ny  friends  in  N\w  Rnglantr"  "'^  ""''  ruarn„d 

v^:::s^X  u:;™f  ™":'-'-"™  "?-'=  <=^ «--"  "«•«  eom. 

Septentber  daj^  'Z  c  t  rieT::  a  "f '^  ""  "'^  ''"^^' 
primeoflife;-butwl,osl,       ttllf,  Z"'™*^   "^"  '"  the 

old  man  of  four..sJ<^re  the  tend!  ,"k  ""'"'  ^'"^^""S'  °'  '^e 
who  witlt  l,i,n  were  li,^^  t,  t"  ,  h  °'' "'"''  '"^'P'^^''  *°»en, 
captivity,  travelled  la  e.b"'ol  "■'"^•'  ^J'  '"'°  ^"dian 

Waite,  .shndderin  '  a  tts'ho"  7  'T''  '"'''  ■^=">-'™i» 
three  little  girl.s  So  er,"  n'd  7  "''  '"^  ^'^''^'^  -'fe  and 
if  he  eottld  m>t  ecov  them  "  ^^7  ""''  ^'''"•'=  "^«"-  f^te, 
Hatfield  ,nan,  who.se  v  e  an  chiw:'  "  ^"'"'"^"-  """"'^^ 
lives,  joined  him  ''""  '^'''^  '''"""g  the  cap. 

its''stwi!,r  "te";": -rrti" ' "  ^'""■^' "- «°'--« '- 

-ed,  the  Oeneral  l:-\:[:^Z  Z^^^^-^^^^Z 


122 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   YPw    r^x. 
- ^  ^^^"^   ENGLAND   CAl'TIVES. 


field,  issued  an  order  f^^Tn      ^  " 

■•esolved  that  ail  incidental  trn""''^;'/,'?  "-"P'"'-'  -<' 
tlie  colony.  -^penscs  sliould  be  defrayed  by 

On  the  24th  of  October     ,67,    w  ■. 
forward  on  their  mis,io„  „'f  Lte     rf      f "'  J-^'''''''^--^  «^t 
••"Id  letters  from  tl,e    the    r?         ^ ''''>"^<"-e  a  commission 
persons,  explaining  tL„'4,!:~.'-  -^  ""-r    i„,u,e„t° 

■ng  he  aid  of  the  Ne«- Yorrandr'r^™™'^^' '■'•'■'' be.peak- 
■"otmg  it.     By  way  of  WestfiLd   /f''""  ■'•uthorities  in  pro- 

,?„7.P'-  Salisbury,  Commandam  n   tt,  *■"'  '■'■'edcntials 

the  dtsconrteons  manner  of  h?  lb         '""'-■    Convinced  by 
no  des.re  to  forward  their  e„^  "^  ""^'^"r,  that  he  had 

with  his  orders  to  call  ,,no„  ^^'"'"P"'"^'  "^^Y  did  not  comrfv 
^«  we„,  ,,  „„^,^  to  Sc,;re".ta™  r  "0 '^'°'-'=  'eaving^.^ 
fo    thetr  jot,n,ey.     Enqnirin^  " ,  "„  ^T  ""  '""*•'"  ^""'« 
Uu  ch  were  told  that  they  belon<.°,         '^'■•■'"ff'^fs  were,  the 
declaring  that  the  E„gli,sh,„e„ "  aU    ?     °"°"''  ^^"e-'enpon 
longed  to  Boston,  and  actim"        ^    "''■"   "-^henectady   be 
from  Salisbury,  tley;e,''kdH""''  ""''"  '^eeret  oMert 
were  detained  as  pr  so"^''     '"  '°  ^"^•''"y-    There  they 
them  down  to  New  Yorl      ,        "PP^^unity  offered  to  send 
»d  Council.    These  proceed  n^sT'"fr"  ''^^  '"^  «overnor 
able  of  the  wolf  and  the  lamb     f    T'"''  '■'^"''"^'  one  of  the 
Ma.ssach„setts  for  her  o «  patiof  rf  o""''' '''"  ''-er  forgiven 
was  ready  to  seize  upon  the  ^  ",  ,  "    Conneet.cut  River,  and 
The  e.x-,sti„g  iH.will  appears  i^t     '"'"""  '°'-  '••  Ifarrel. 
cioncerning  the  e..amin,ation  of  W    /"'"""'■'' "'  "'«  eouneil 
Wane  is  reported  as  deny    "  tf  "  '"""'  >nnings  where 

'""  that  he  had  .sa  d  th7^  ? '■"'"''■"'■°"  "^'-""gh?  aga  ns" 
'on.  pretending  som     mttalct  thev"'''/  '^'°"*^^^  '°  «"  " 

fo  p~'rs  A;-  -%  rr  .r  t 'r  n,r 

--holes,  then  act.?! ^  S:^  ThaTt  f^^f 


i 


delayed  by  the  difficulty  of  obtil'  °"  "f  ''•"^"<=^' ^"1  ^'^o 
cember  arrived  before  fhel:  «:::"f;' f  ^^.  'O^'  -th  of  De- 
the  arrangements  for  tlieir  nerilnn^  .         '""'''  P^'-f*":' 

derness.     The  French  Inl^]^        "''"'''''  ""'°"g''  'he  wil- 

thematthelastmimtTMohltri"?'^  """   '''■■^<''  '^"4 
them  to  Lake  George.    Mt^-h  to  tL      r"  "'^"'"^  '°  =""di,rt 
nvng  there,  it  was  free  f ro  n  ;':  '";";;  ■-''PP^ntment  on  ar- 
Jndian  refitted  it,  and  after  d  nwint  f     r,^""  "'''  "='■""'=■  "><= 
a  rough  draft  of  the  1i)cp«  „  ?5  "^  ""=""  °"  birch  baric 

bade  themadien.  ThtedavIT'  w',''  ''^>'  ^^^^  '"  P--  he 
George,  and  carrying  thei.~t"^  '°  ''''  °""'=' <>f  ^a^e 
they  reached  the.sh:re  o  I  akeM  °  ",""^  ^""'^■^  the  portage, 
eember.  Here  they  took  t'the  ^"^!''"  °"  "'^  "5"> «'  ^e! 
>t  proved  too  weak  to  bear  them  ^^  ^'"' ''  '^^J''"  J™™ey 

■step,s,  they  carried  the  canoe  ftwtcl  t  """'^  '""''^""^  '^eir 
embarked.  Imagine  the  de«  Xn.  rf  T"  "'"=■"•  ^"^  '^'f-" 
wayfarens,  a,s  they  floated  for  ^In  f  ^'''"'  ™"ow.stricken 

«kiff,  buffeted  an^  to:edb;,h  ':;«.'  °"'  'r  '"  "'-•  '-■" 
of  that  unknown  sea  ""^  "^'"ds  and  icy  waters 

fect:ttth'Sus1tr'::::;,;-;:-r  ^y  '"-  -.hty  a. 

-":h7r:r:L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

on  New.Years   day.     EcX  f  ; '"'^  ""'^^  '^^  «'  >ast 
fre.shed  on  the  way  by  some       .f  l        ."^^  *"''   ^'■^^"y  re- 
left   by  .some   hunter  i'°T  dcs/'r"^  '  '"""^  °'  brandy 
Chambly,  then  a  fronti      .Settle,  2    TTT  "'«>•  P--d 
reachmg  Sorel,  they  came      '"„  .n    T    v   '°"^^"     ^^f°^e 
where  Jennings  wa,soverioyef  to  r,'"'''^"  encampment, 
and  broken  speech  she  tol    him  aH  sh"1  ^f  ^''^^    ^'''"'-  »bs 
tt  had  fared  with  the  re  t   iTow  s  f  ^'"^"""^'  »°d  how 

Mary  Foote  had   been   kmedTn'rhT:'        f "^'^  'r^'  """= 

cne  way,    how   Goodman 


mgmamgmmm^ama^tf^mmmi^mmmfmmmmfmmmmm^ii-*^^^^^ 


124  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


Plympton  had  survived  the  perils  of  the  journey  only  to  be 
murdered  at  the  end;  and  how,  after  all  had  been  continually 
threatened  with  burning,  this  old  man  was  selected  as  the 
victim,  and  led  to  the  stake  by  his  friend  and  neighbor, 
Obadiah  Dickinson,  had  walked  serenely  to  his  dreadful 
death.  Groans  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  two  men  as  they 
listened  to  the  harrow  ing  details,  but  restraining  their  in- 
dignation, they  hurried  off  to  bargain  for  the  redemption  of 
their  beloved  ones.  At  vSorel  they  saw  live  more  of  the  com- 
pany, two  of  whom  had  been  pawned  by  the  Indians  for  rum. 
Waite's  wife  with  all  the  rest  of  the  captives  was  found  in 
the  Indian  lodges  in  the  woods  beyond.  Stopping  only  to 
comfort  her  with  the  joyful  tidings  of  her  speedy  release, 
Waite  and  Jennings  pushed  on  to  (Juebec,  where  they  were 
kindly  received  by  the  Governor.  Glad  of  an  opportimity  to 
make  return  for  a  favor  lately  done  him  by  the  English  Gov- 
ernment, Frontenac  aided  them  in  collecting  the  captives 
and  procuring  their  ransom,  which  was  effected  by  the  pay- 
ment of    ;^200. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1678,  the  redeemed  captives  with 
their  deliverers,  escorted  by  four  gentlemen  of  Frontenac's 
household  and  a  guard  of  French  soldiers,  began  the  home- 
ward march.  Travelling  leisurely  and  hunting  by  the  way 
as  occasion  required,  they  arrived  at  Albany  on  the  22d  of 
May,  whence  a  messenger  was  at  once  sent  post  haste  with 
the  following  letters  from  Stockwell  and  Waite  to  their 
friends  at  Hatfield: 

Albany,  May  22,  1678. 

"Loving  Wife: — Having  now  opportunity  to  remember  my  kind 
love  to  thee  and  our  child  and  the  rest  of  our  friends,  though  we 
met  with  great  afflictions  and  trouble  since  1  see  thee  last,  yet  here 
is  now  opportunity  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  to  God,  that  we  are 
now  pretty  well  and  in  a  hopeful  way  to  see  the  faces  of  one  another, 
before  we  take  our  final  farewell  of  this    present  world.     Likewise 


iJmifiifei. 


""VMOVMaMtan.. 


SETTLEMENT   OF  A   FRONTtpp    .- 
^KUJS'TIER    TOWN. 


(iod  hath  raised  un  fnVnHc  ~~~ ~~ - 

'h-e  „f  „.  ,e,,  „/  in'Z:z:z::v"""''-  -'  "-^-  ■»  >- 

I'-^'ng  M,  hasee  and  ,e«  your     ,,,     ,  r    l"""  "'™>'      So  I  conclude 
makes  a  separation.  "  •'"'-•ct.onate  husband  till  death 

-  I-  you  und^Ca^d    tttte'trf  r"-'''^-'  '"^  — -e 
'-«>.%  and  we  now  stand  inn  edof  al  il"    "'/"""">'  """  ""=  cap 
Sreatand  heavy  and  therefor    any  th::""'     "  "'^-"-S"  i><  ve  y 
on.  let  ,t  move  them  to  co„,e  ad      ',  /"°  ■'"''  '"^^  '"  «■■•  Condi! 
he  captives  are  .nurdered-  o  d  '   "■'  '"  ""''  ^'™''-      Ihree  of 

'l-«"er  and  San,uel   R  ssc  '    Z   I"'"  '^'^"'l'""".  S^-el  iC  eS 
now  a.  ,„an,.     ,  ,„,^  yorhast^'     r„::;:,;'7  """  """  "^"  "-' 
"aste.     Stay  not  for  the  Sabliaih         7  '"'itter,  for  it  ret.uiretli  »re-,t 
»hall  endeavor  to  meet  ^a^c';";:' ''l' "^''"''"^  "^  !>"--•     w" 
;-K.     >Ve  n,„st  con.e  ver'y   o    ,y      'c!:  .'f  /  "  -'>■  ^<=  -   Housato- 
i  pray  you  hasten  then      iav    L  "'  "'"'  """'  an.l  children 

n-i-h  haste,     .rin,  provi's^In^viuf  J^r,:;':^;  '"'  "^  "•--';:: 

Your  loving-  kinsman, 

At  Albany  written   from   nVm.   .        .  ^k^jamin  Waitk. 

to  yours  all  that  were  fath  r    ^  Zlt^r  '  '''''  ^^'^  ^'^-^ed 

ancl  stay  not,  and  ease  me  of  mv  rh  '"  '"^^  ""^^'  ^'h'  hasten 

afraid  of  any  enemies."  '  ''''''^''-     ^'-^'  «hall  not  need  to  be 

Copies  of  these  let-f^,.,, 

ci.  at  Bcston.  v^i  r;::;;;:i"':° ""  «~---i  co„n. 

and  who  itnmediately  is  'ted  t^^  "PP<"nted  a  day  of  fasti„<, 
on  that  day  the  minsters  an;  "'  ■'''^'nnteuding  "th^t 

rf>afity  for  the  captitrb;  "  '"X"^'''""  "^'•""f-s^  tl  etr 
quicicening  of  the  CrB4!l,;°';';f """  and  that  for  ihe 
read  that  day  in  all  the  churches"  '  ''""'  '''  P»Wicly 

t-nt;:tr-:;:r;:  '^i^tc--^"'^  -">■  --  -n  wt 

awaited  them.     At  Westfi.M  '      ^'^'^    "^^'"    and  horses 


126 


TKUE   STORIKS   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


like  a  triumphal  procession,  every  neighborhood  turning  out 
to  greet  them.  Two  proud  and  happy  men  were  Benjamin 
Waite  and  vStephen  Jennings,  as  they  headed  the  cavalcade 
into  Hatfield  street  that  May  morning,  each  bearing  in  his 
arms  his  new,  little  daughter,  and  tears  streamed  from  every 
eye  as  crowding  round  to  welcome  home  the  wanderers,  the 
people  passed  from  one  to  another  the  two  little  babies,  born 
in  bondage  and  christened  in  commemoration  of  the  sorrows 
of  their  mothers,  Canada  Waite  and  Captivity  Jennings.  It 
may  interest  some  to  know  that  both  children  grew  to 
womanhood,  and  that  the  former  became  the  grandmother  of 
the  late  Oliver  Smith,  gratefully  remembered  by  many  in 
the  Connecticut  valley. 

Stockwell's  experience  of  Indian  hospitality  seems  to  have 
disgusted  him  with  frontier  life,  and  the  year  after  his  return 
he  removed  to  Suffield,  Conn.  That  others  still  cherished 
the  hope  of  finally  possessing  their  lands  in  peace  is  proved 
by  the  following : 

"To  the  honoured  Generall  C'ourt  of  the  Masachusetts  Bay  now 
setting  in  Boston  y''  8th  3,  '78:' 

Rigt  Worshipfull : 

We  do  veryly  hope  your  thoughts  are  soe  upon  us  &  our  con- 
dition that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  tell  you  that  our  estates  are 
wasted  that  we  find  it  hard  work  to  I^ive  in  this  Iron  age  to  Come 
to  the  years  end  with  Comfort;  our  houses  have  been  Rifled  &  burned 
— our  flocks  &  heards  consumed — the  ablest  of  our  Inhabitants 
killed — our  plantation  has  bccinne  a  wilderness — a  dwelling  place 
for  owls, — &  we  that  are  left  are  separated  into  several  townes — 
Also  our  reverand  &  esteemed  Minister,  Mr.  Samuel  Mather  hath 
been  invited  from  us  tV  greate  danger  ther  is  of  o''  loosing  him; 
all  which  speaks  us  a  people  in  a  very  misirable  condition,  & 
unlest  you  will  be  pleased  to  take  us  (out  of  your  father-like  pitty) 
&  Cherish  us  in  yo'  bosomes   we  are  like  Suddinly  to  breathe  out 

'Mass.  Archives,  May  8,  1678. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  A  FRONTIER  TOWN. 


127 


o'  last  Breath.     Ricrht  Hnnniii-A,i  -im,    --.         .    . 
age  „-  .,ffair.  for  u/t  e  Ra^M    M      e^::i";f  '"''''"'^'  '"  ■"- 
saten    us,  &   we   ihe    »„„'  ,,,° ''•"'"'"' y"' quit's  fur- 

that  we  mi^u  ret        &     la,   "'.I,     ','"'""'  '"''""^  "^  ""-' 
earnestly  begg  ,ta  !"    .^    n  ^  "«^"'"'=-     '''•''"'=   ''"'"'I 

with  griat  Aclva„e:age  t  l^  „  "'ife     X?""  '"t  '"'"  '*""'-"'"" 
dome  of  Jesus  ..  fof  „■  „w  '  sStie  "  :^Z:"'  '"'■■  """=  '^^  ^'"^■ 

follows:  rigiits.       They  conclude  as 

Kich^a  ;::ct'o°narra:':j:ri,  "^'':'^''"--  ^^^  ^'.  -^'-t  ^t  as 

to  entertaiu  ..  ^ai.u.Xrra        I.^lT^f  ',7/^'^=  ^'  ™«'^-"' 
the  upland  tmvnes   aivje  w^r.  i,  '"habitants  as  most  of 

;var.  to  .,e  othe?.:';;;:;":  :^^::^;tt  ^r'^^'v^ "''" 

to  the  enemie  &  vervlv  (nr.^  ,         i        "/'  "^  ^  great  disheartening 

tience)  It  would  mi^l'tc™:::  \:;'''''"''^/''r '™^^''''''^  P" 
Inhabitants  yo^  poof.  I.upoveSSd  :la:;:V"^  "^"'^  "'  "^  '"= 

further  atten^pt  to  r.Z^,  De^r.^a.:  r/eT^ '.^  "° 


EUNICE    WILLIAMS. 


Towards  the  raickUe  of  the  seventeenth  century  „n  the 
bank  of  the  tce-b„„„d  St.  Charles,  ro.se  a  hut.  with'the  hMa 
soundmg  name  of  Notre-Dame  des  An^es.  Two  fee  above 
.ts  low  eaves  rose  the  drifted  .snow.     AVithin  i^reat  I  k.    1  t 

•n  the  "wide-throated  ehimney."  before  whi^fn?;'.;:: 

the  fitst  Je.su  t  AI.s.s,on  at  Quebee  in  New  France.     The  trees 
in  the  neighboring  forest  cracked  with  the  frost  like  the  r" 
portof  aptstol.     Le  Jeunes  ink  and  his  fingers  froze    but 
late  ,„to  the  n.ght.  bribing  his  Indian  teachfr  with  t'^a^ 
he  toded  away  at  h.s  decle..;sions,  translating  his  PaUr  Zur 

hi  W;:lT'°,"'  ""'"•'"■^  Algonquin."  fhen,  wrappid  „ 
his  blanke  ,  which  was  soon  'fringed  with  the  icicles  of  his 
eongealed  breath,"  he  snatehe.l  an  hours  rest,  and  waking 
with  the  dawn,  with  a  hatchet  broke  the  ice  in  his  ea  k  f"  r 
h.s  morning  ablutions,  and  began  his  labors  afresh' 

From  Old  France  to  New,"  says  Mr.  Parkman.  "came  sue 
eorsand  re-inforeements,"  and  a  year  before  Harvard  Col  We 
wa,s  founded,  there  was  at  Quebec,  the  beginning  of  a  school 
and  a  college  for  Huron  boys  and  French  youth.  "Our  La  v" 
smiled  upon  Paul  Le  Jeune's  mi.ssions;  and  as  in  the  days  of 
I'outnncourt,  the  wealth  and  patronage  of  the  ladies  of  the 


EUNICE   WILLIAMS.  ,2- 

French  Court  sent  the  first  Jesuit  to  New  Fra„c^.s7the  suT 

^c-en"  a  Vine  v''  '"T'u  "'  V-^'^--'  -'•  of  the  newly  :o„; 
stLratccl  Ville  Mane  <le  Montreal,  was  in  great  measure  ,l.,c 
t.  the  zea  and  ron,antic  devotion  of  Madame  de  La  Pelt  c 
Manedc  L'Incarnation,  Mdllc,  Jeanne  Mance,  and  Maw  e 
rite  Bourgeois ;  and  no  one  ean  read  the  stcry  o  P  uf  Le 
Jeune  and  his  associates  as  related  by  themse  ves  w  "Lnit 

r  ^Caldr ""  '"'  '-'-'  '"■■  "-  '-'-^  "<  '<"■-■ 
Meanwhile    with  a  Icindred  zeal,  that  noble  apostle    lohn 

the  Lnglsh  B,l,le  into  the  Algonquin  tongue  for  the  benefit 

o     he   ndians  near  Boston,  often  meeting  them  a.  Nona„"um 

hill,  after  the  duties  of  his  own  pulpit  were  discl,ar„ed     " 

the  week  and  there  expounding  to  them  its  simple^t'-ut 

Nor  was  thrs  the  end  of  his  labors  for  their  imp,  n- eme  t' 

Believing  that  civilization,  or  civility,  as  he  call     isl  „u  l' 

Ko  hand  in  hand  with  religion,  he  in.itructed  the  sachems    1 

iffi-iculture  and  the  use  of  tools,  bought  spinnin.-wheerfor 

he  .sxiuaws  and  not  neglecting  the  primer  for  the  Catechism 

gTc    witt'r^ifT  f^-^^"-"'""--^.  .-varding'th!:if  di-^: 

hid  "stabl  si  ed  T  "  ■'■%'"■  '■•"  '•'PP'<='     At  last,  when  he 

nacl  tstablLshed  his  praying  Indians,  as  they  were  called  in 

fn^  ^'^rif ''■'  """  '■"  Natick,the  town  of  Dedh  m  I  "s 
ndemmfied  for  the  loss  of  land  appropriated  to  the'    u"e  bv 

ea  ize  how  resolute  and  pious  must  have  been  the  hearU 

■"-i   r       T  *',''""''-^'  "'  "'^  ™«"  -d  women  who  S 
16/1,  began  the  settlement  of  Deerfield      A   ,.„.l„    v    .u 


UO 


TkUK    STOKIKS   OF    NEW    KNCILAND    CAl'TTVKS. 


othy  of  Dorchester,  ministered  to  them  in  1673,  boarding  at 
the  time  with  (Jucntin  JStockwell.  Driven  from  their  heri- 
tage by  the  savage  hordes  of  Philip,  it  was  not  till  1682  that 
an  effort  at  resettlement  was  made. 

In  the  senior  class  at  Harvard  at  that  time,  was  John  Wil- 
liams, a  studious  youth,  son  of  Deacon  vSamuel  Williams  of 
Roxbury.  (iraduated  from  a  class  of  three,  of  whom  two 
were  Williamses,  John  Williams,  then  but  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  after  studying  divinity,  was  ordained  minister  of 
Deerfield,  in  1688.  There  would  seem  to  be  little  in  the  po- 
sition of  pastor  to  a  frontier  settlement  to  attract  a  yoiing 
man  born  and  educated  at  the  metropolis  ;  and  without  doubt- 
ing that  Mr.  Williams  was  mainly  actuated  by  that  mission- 
ary spirit,  which  characterized  the  preachers  of  that  period, 
it  is  possible  that  a  previous  acquaintance  with  the  North- 
ampton lady,  whom  he  married  the  year  after  his  ordination, 
made  him  more  willing  to  accept  the  call  to  Deerfield.  This 
was  Eunice  Mather,  a  cousin  of  the  first  minister  of  Deer- 
field, daughter  of  Rev.  Eleazer  Mather,  and  descended  on 
her  mother's  side  from  John  Warham,  a  noted  Puritan  Di- 
vine of  Exeter,  England. 

Eunice  Williams,  second  daughter,  and  sixth  child  of  Rev. 
John  Williams,  was  born  vSeptember  17th,  1696.  vShe  was  the 
middle  child  of  eleven,  all  born  to  her  parents  within  sixteen 
years.  Though  nothing  can  be  definitely  stated  of  her  child- 
hood previous  to  1704,  we  may  suppose  that  her  five  little 
brothers  and  sisters,  whose  births  are  i^ecorded  as  rapidly 
succeeding  her  own,  monopolized  the  attention  of  the  mother 
with  whom  Esther,  the  eldest  daughter,  was  more  naturally 
associated  in  the  care  of  the  younger  ones;  while  the  father, 
busy  in  providing  for  his  rapidly  increasing  family,  and 
much  occupied  with  his  parish  duties,  devoted  the  little  lei- 
sure that  remained,  to  planning  for  the  education  of  the  old- 
er boys.     So  I  fancy  Eunice  a  pale,  delicate,  dark-eyed  child, 


EUNICE    WILLIAMS. 

left  pretty  „„,ch  to  her  own  ^^n.:f~^;:::^  :^7^::;:7! 

Lot  us  Klaneo  at  the  Dcerfiel,!  „r  that  period.     We  see  it 

houses  outside-  tli(w>I,l  1,.     .•       i  roitsoi    stockaded 

;He,„M.eo,.,^t,S':;^r^:;;;.X^:r^^^ 

ty,  truth  compels  me    to   state    for  th,.  h,.u       /  ,     ^ 

sounded  so  pleasantly  in  our  .^n-.  '  '''''"''''   ^'""^'"^-^ 

ly  been  silked  2ZrZZZ^Tr7r '^''^ '''''''''■ 
the  people,  with  nam::^.^  L  Ue  f  'iSs  t  J'^" -f  ^^"  ^ 
us.-valiant,  hard-vvorkin.r    /,    ' '"^^!^'"-"' ^'^^e-'"''"  f^^mdiar  to 

endurin,.,  pious  v^^I  ^oX  to"l"'^  T''  ';""''  '""^"^^■ 
house,  where    Punier   i-  1    t  i  ''''^'""  '^^  ^^^^  •'^^■h""!- 

But  thou<.h  the  fnH       P^"^^^^^^>^  ^^^'"t  to  school,  is  missin^r 

he  VIS  ted  the  school    Put.;       ^  i.  aoubt,  that  when 

liked  to  g-o  to  De^(Yln  Pt-».,  j  •        i.  *>  ''""^^^^"-"^-r  at  all.     She 
site  of  th'e  .ee":rZl   '  t:;:te'"T,rD '"'  ''^""""'^ 

Eve,  a,.„  ,H,  auac.  „„  D.erfieM.  .„„„„  „  ,He  ■■Old  ■„.,.„  „.„„  .. 


132 


TKUK   srOKIIiS   OF    NKW    1<:N(;1,ANII)   c:A1'IIVKS. 


the  stumps  in  the  newly  eleared  lands.  As  the  sparks  Hew 
up  from  the  llamin^  f<)rj>;e,  she  thouj^^ht  of  the  verse  in  the 
Hible,  "Man  is  born  unto  trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  upward," 
and  wondered  what  it  meant.     Too  soon,  alas,  she  learned. 

The  Indians  for  a  time  held  in  cheek  by  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Philip,  were  be^inninj^  a^ain  to  desolate  the  scat- 
tered villajj^es.  When  in  iGSy,  they  settled  old  scores  with 
^-lajor  Waldron  at  Dover,  they  killed  Richard  Otis,  and  took 
his  wife  and  baby  with  other  captives  to  Canada.  Scalpinj^ 
]>arties  hovered  perpetually  about  Deerfield,  and  the  new- 
born settlement  was  soon  baptized  in  blood. 

When  in  1702,  Dudley  left  JMij^land  to  assume  the  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts,  it  was  evident  that  the  li^n^lish  ([ueen 
could  not  overlook  the  insult  offered  her  by  Louis  XIV.  As 
ever  since  the  peace  of  169S,  the  Canadian  *f'()vernment  had 
lost  no  opportunity  of  excitinj^  the  eastern  Indians  to  hostil- 
ity, under  the  pretext  of  protecting  them  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  Enij^lish,  it  was  inevitable  that  war  between  the 
two  nations  in  the  Old  World,  must  be  followed  by  a  renew- 
al of  atrocities  in  New  England.  As  a  precautionary  mea.s- 
ure,  Dudley  appointed  a  conference  with  the  sachems,  in 
June,  1703,  at  Casc<i,and  repairing  thither  with  his  suite,  was 
met  on  the  30th,  by  llopchood  of  Norridgwock,  Wanungunt 
of  Penobscot,  and  Wattanummon  of  Pennacook,  with  their 
chief  sagamores.  In  stereotyped  phrase,  the  new  governor 
said,  that  commissioned  by  his  victorious  queen,  he  had  come 
as  to  friends  and  brothers,  to  reconcile  all  differences  since 
the  last  treaty.  The  Indian  orator  in  turn  assured  him,  that 
peace  was  what  they  desired  above  all  things,  and  in  lan- 
guage as  poetical  as  it  was  false,  declared  that  "as  high  as 
the  .sun  was  above  the  earth,  so  far  distant  should  their  de- 
signs be  of  making  the  least  breach  between  them."  Both 
parties  then  heaped  up  fresh  stones  upon  the  pillar  called  the 
Two  Brothers,  that  had  been  set  up  at  the  last  treaty,  and 


HHO;    JH3HW   JriliOH  a'Teai'r  M 


»..  .A^VAlM-i.'U^',-      /'     'iW'j.l   TlIU, 


HOO"   JU1W0f)flO2  YH3-    iJHi3fi  OI*A  aOli^ua  V»A?  fliiJvUH-j, 

•   >•  ■  ■'  .,1 


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FORT  SAINT-LOUIS  AT  CAUGhNAAACJA  AITH   PR,F.ST'S   HOUSE    .VHEKt   .OHN 

SCHUYLER  SAW  EUNICE  AND   BEING  VERY  SORROWFUL   TOOK 

^FR   B'.    THf    i.AND  ANIj   LEFT  HER 


EUNICK   WILLIAMS. 

to  seduce  them   frm^  ,u   ■  "'';,''^^^"™  the  iM-ench  had  tried 
moon  endured  "  ^  '^    ^"^  •'^^^"  '^nd 

wfth     L  c      Tt    ■     ^""^  ^'"■'^  ^'^'-'^  protected  by  her  trealv 

their  „ati;4  tol  ^     ^^H  ':,;  Th'e' Se  f  ''""""'^'  '"  "'^™ 
winsr  of  the  clu,rH,   h.T     \u  Lawrence  under  the 

no/cau,;:iaX^'::fnrrCMre:;''Tr-''°"'-^'' 

rally  allied  Hiemselve^  wifi.  fi      i^        f  ^ntieal.     1  hey  natu- 
tribe  who  rem  "net,  p    L  .rfH    •  """''  "°"  °'  *"^ 

derthesu^avof  the  E„L  ih      Th  '  ?'''""'-^-  '■'■''™"  ""■ 

hawks,  who's-  P    nHn,r  ^;  '"''■'^■"'^'  '"'^'™'*  «'  '^e  Mo- 

by  them  to  A.C;o„^:i"Ter„Tnd  "'""''" '™"^''' 
Schuyler  to  the  autLritiesIn  N^w  "EnStr""""™^'^'  "^^ 


134  TRUE   STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

the  north  meadows  in  Deerfield  and  carriid  to  Canada.  So 
impressed  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  with  a  presentiment  of 
the  danger  hovering  over  the  town,  that  both  in  the  pulpit 
and  out,  he  urged  the  utmost  vigilance  upon  his  people.  The 
old  fable  of  the  boy  and  the  wolf  was  acted  over  again,  and 
the  savage  foe,  stealing  from  the  forest  at  midnight  upon  the 
fold,  found  the  guardians  sleeping,  and  fell  with  rapine  and 
murder  upon  the  little  flock.  The  story  is  an  old  one  and 
needs  no  repetition  here.  But  who  can  tell  the  horror 
stamped  forever  upon  the  heart  and  brain  of  Eunice,  by  the 
sights  and  sounds  of  that  awful  night?  vSviddenly  waked 
from  the  untroubled  sleep  of  childhood,  to  see  the  hideous 
faces  of  demons  bending  over  her;  dragged  by  bloody  hands 
from  her  warm  bed,  hurried  through  the  room  where  she 
sees  her  father,  bound  hand  and  foot,  helpless  to  protect  her, 
and  afraid  to  pity  lest  he  may  hasten  her  doom;  over  the 
door  stone,  where  her  little  brother  lies  dead,  and  by  his  side, 
gashed  and  bleeding,  the  faithful  black  woman,  whom  next 
to  their  mother,  they  loved  ;  out  into  the  cold  winter  night, 
reddening  now  like  the  dawn,  in  the  glare  of  the  burning 
village,  and  so  to  the  church,  the  child  is  borne.  Pine  torches 
flaring  in  the  hands  of  the  dusky  warriors,  lighted  up  the 
scene  within.  The  enemy's  wounded,  groaning  in  agony  on 
the  floor ;  old  men  praying  and  calling  on  God  for  deliver- 
ance ;  women  speechless  and  despairing,  among  them  her 
mother  pale  and  wan  ;  her  playmates  shrieking  with  terror ; 
infants  wailing  with  cold  and  hanger; — huddled  there  in 
woful  companionship,  while  the  mocking  fiends  completed 
the  work  of  destruction.  At  dawn,  the  shivering  captives 
began  their  weary  march.  The  impression  made  upon  the 
tender  mind  of  the  child,  by  the  dreadful  scenes  of  this  night 
and  the  twenty-five  succeeding  days,  may  explain  the  fact  of 
her  reluctance  to  return  to  the  home  of  which  she  had  re- 
tained only  this  frightful  remembrance. 


EUNICE    WIIJ.IA.MS 


In    he  chstnbtition  of  the  eaptives,  Euniee  fell  to  the  lot 

bieast  to  pity,  it  is  certain  that  she  was  f-ated  wiH^T 
consideration  by  her  master  thin  hZ       "  """'^ 

theirs.     When  iL  Htti:^."  .^^ ^ll^^h  'T ^' 
brawny  shoulder,  or  bore  her  tende    vVn  hi    arl      Wra 
pmg  her  warmly  in   his  blanket,  he  drew  Lr  ^a  S 
ovei  the  ley  rivers,  spread  her  bed  softly  with  thiek  LmtTwv 

.earned  to  love  each  other  ^^el,.  'on'^he     aX,7„T"r 

tt>:io:r A'T  'u"u  '"■"^''  '^"^  ""-^  -™  - 

who  was  -u  U.  „r.n,  ;,  "  '""''"  ''">'"'"  °f  '"=■•  fe'her, 

enle"™.  f ,;  I  ^T'"'""'  ■'""'  *  P"«^'  -'^'^  '"">  'o 

ciiaea\oi  toi  her  ransom.     But  the  Tp^nif  of  fi,^  c   •   .t 

mi-ion  would  not  permit  Mr.  W  1  ,:  ,n  ' to  e„  'hTfort^r 
sunng  him  that  it  would  be  labor  los  for  thl  v  ' '"'" 
would  part  with  their  hearts  sconer  th!:  wi  h  h  "hM  To' 
compan.ed  by  the  governor,  Mr,  Williams  (tnally  obtained 
'  d  XTTtT";',  ''""""  ^""^  ^"'^  ^°'«  -'"  tears  b'^ed 
place      .Soothing  her  as  well  as  he  eould.  though  her  sorrovv 

=jr.:'i,:™  -:;s-'„;: '".,";■' :'; "  «  "■• 

Ma,>i-  ,..  "^'     '^  ^vicked  man  in  a  Ioup- 

fc        i  coiucs  eveiy  clay,  and  makes  me  sav  some  T  nH'ti 

no  ha.m.      She  told  h,m  how  the  savages  profaned  the  Sab- 


136  TRUE    STORIES   OK    NEW    ENCH.AND    CAl'TIVES. 


bath,  and  promised  him  that  she  would  always  keep  it  holy. 
For  a  few  minutes  again  before  his  release,  Mr.  Williams 
was  permitted  to  converse  with  his  daughter.  The  Gover- 
nor's wife,  seeing  his  deep-seated  melancholy  f)n  her  account, 
had  Eunice  brought  to  Montreal,  where  she  told  him  of  the 
methods  used  to  drive  heretic  children  to  the  bosom  of  the 
mother  church. 

It  is  a  mournful  picture.  The  Jesuit  with  his  slouched  hat 
looped  up  at  the  sides,  in  a  long  black  cassock,  a  rosary  at  his 
waist,  and  a  scourge  in  his  hand.  The  timid  English  girl, 
scion  of  a  grand  old  Puritan  stock,  cowering  in  abject  terror 
on  her  knees  before  him.  Rebaptizcd  Margaret,  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross  on  her  brow  and  bosom,  Eunice  is  alternate- 
ly threatened  with  punishment  and  allured  with  promises. 
She  is  told  tales  of  her  father's  conversion,  frightened  with 
pictures  of  fiends  tormenting  the  souls  of  little  children,  and 
beaten  for  refusing  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross.  All  offers 
of  ransom  were  refused  for  her,  and  when  she  entreated  to 
be  allowed  to  go  home,  she  was  told  that  if  she  went  she 
would  be  damned  and  burned  in  hell  forever,  a  threat  terri- 
ble to  the  ears  of  a  child  bred  in  the  Puritanic  fear  of  the  ev. 
erlasting  fire.  Fond  as  her  Indian  master  was  of  her,  he  was 
powerless  to  protect  her  from  these  cruelties.  While  he  did 
not  deny  the  justice  of  the  claims  made  for  the  restoration 
of  the  prisoner,  he  always  asserted  that  he  could  not  release 
her  without  an  order  from  the  governor,  whose  subject  he 
was.  On  the  other  hand,  the  governor  pleaded  his  fear  of 
the  king's  displeasure,  lamented  his  want  of  authority  to 
command  the  Indians,  who,  he  said,  were  his  allies  and  not 
his  subjects.  The  priests,  appealed  to  as  a  last  resource, 
scornfully  repelled  the  implied  suspicion,  and  declared  that 
humanity  forbade  them  to  interfere  to  separate  the  child 
against  her  will,  from  the  master  whom  she  loved  as  her  father. 

After  the  blow  fell  upon  the  devoted  town  of  Deerfield, 


EUNICE    Wll,r.[A«S.  , 


Schuyler  did  n„t  relax  his  efforts  tc,  protect  New  England 
He  open  y  protested  ajrainst  the  n.aintenancc  of  neutrality 

.  attack  the  people  of  Massachusetts:  and  remonstratine  in 
then-  name  with  the  (Governor  of  Canada,  he  said    he  had 
thought  .t  his  "duty  to  God  and  ,nan  to  prevent  as  for  as  pos 
Mble,  the  tnmction  of  such  cruelties  as  had  too  often  been 
commuted  on  the  unfortunate  colonists."     In  all  negodations 
or  the  redemption  of  English  captives  he  was  espedaly  ae" 
ive.     He  sent  out  friendly  Indians  as  .scouts  into  the  enemy  s 
country,  and  reported  faithfully  to  our  governor  all  th  "he 
could  learn  of  the  designs  of  their  captor^  in  regard  to  them 
He  was  much  interested  in  the  restoration  of  Eunice  anHi 
that  we  know  of  her  condition  after  her  fathers  released 
gleaned    from    hints  in  his  correspondence.     In  a  letter  to 
Lol.  Partridge,  commanding  at  H.itfield,  dated  Feb,  l8  1706  7 
he  says  "As  to  Mr.  Williams  Daughter,  our  spie;  are 

te  wth  th"  t"  T  '''"T'  '•""""^' ''"'  ^'■■'  Williams  daug  i 
ter  wth  the  Indian  who  ownes  her.  .She  is  in  good  heakh 
but  seemes  unwilling  to  returne.  and  the  Indian  not  very  w  11 

hi,  as  I  have  formally  wrott  to  him,  and  indeed  to  all  others 
hat  are  prisoners."     In  conclusion,  after  notifyin..  Cofpar 
tridge  of  certain  movements  of  the  enemy,  he  says-  "I  wish 
you  and  us  may  be  all  on  our  guard,  and  God  preserve  iila 

on  the  nth  of  August,   .707,  he  notices  the  return  of   two 
trusty  Indians  whom  he  had  sent  as  "spys"  to  Caughn1wa;a 

A.  J,;"'  irrj:,!:'',;:;:,^::':^:-' -;;-;  -- '- '-  ^-'»-  -> 


L-.y.;^aa^ifflEg?'''^WPB11Pi^i  1^1     tSff^--^'  *  ''^n 


138  TRUE    STORIES    OK    NEW    ENOI.ANI)    ("AI'TIVES. 


in  Canada,  and  who  reported  a  party  of  the  enemy  at  Otter 
Creek  on  their  way  to  New  England,  and  also  "that  they  see 
Deakrn  Sheldon  of  Deerfield  at  Montreal,  who  walked  the 
streets,  but  was  told  he  was  deteind  and  had  not  liberty  to 
goe  home."  vSehuyler  adds,  "Do  be  on  your  guard  to  pre- 
vent your  people  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  these 
bloody  savages;  but  I  eannot  enlarge,  for  I  will  have  the  mes- 
senger  ride   this   night,  and  it  is  now  ten  o'elock." 

Air.  Sheldon  went  at  least  three  times  to  Canada,  in  behalf 
of  Eunice  and  others,  and  on  the  above  occasion  was  not  al- 
lowed to  return,  there  being  another  expedition  on  foot 
against  the  English.  Deacon  vSheldon's  kind  offices  seem  to 
have  produced  some  relenting  in  the  heart  of  Eunice's  mas- 
ter, for  I  have  befcn^c  me  a  letter  written  from  her  cousin  in 
Northampton,  to  her  brother  in  Roxbury,  dated  Aug.  4,  1707, 
which  says,  "A  post  came  from  Albany  last  Saturday  night, 
that  brought  letters  from  Canada,  also  a  letter  from  Albany, 
that  saith,  'Ye  Indian,  Eunice's  master,  saith  he  will  bring 
her  in  within  two  months.'" 

One  can  picture  the  quiet  little  village  on  that  Saturday 
night.  All  work  laid  aside,  the  Puritan  Sabbath  already 
begun;  the  pious  psalms  of  t'ae  different  households  borne  out 
upon  the  summer  air,  and  perhaps  the  solemn  voice  of  the 
pastor,  as  with  the  remnant  of  his  once  happy  family,  he 
prays  for  the  return  of  the  captive  still  languishing  in  chains 
afar;  the  sound  of  horse's  hoofs,  as  the  messerger  rides  post 
from  Albany,  sent  by  Peter  Schuyler  to  announce  that 
Eunice's  master  will  bring  her  within  two  months;  the  stir 
in  the  village,  as  the  glad  tidings  spreads  from  house  to 
house.  Hope  beating  high  in  the  bosoms  of  some,  with  the 
thought  that  now,  perhaps,  they  may  rejoin  their  beloved 
ones,  long  since  torn  from  them  by  a  fate  more  cruel  than 
death;  sorrow  in  some  at  the  renewed  remembrance  of  those 
that  can  never  return. 


EUNICK    WIl.lrAMS.  ,, 


Satklcst  of  all  ,.s  the  remembrance  of  the  ten  years  old 
girl  a   Canjthnawaga,  in  the  wi«wam  of  her  master.     It  is  .1 
ways  her  master  and  never  a  hint  that  any.  even  of  the  nd 
est  of  her  sex,  surro.md  her.     She  may  have  hear.l  that     e 
has  promrsed  at  Ia,st  to  take  ber  honte.  and  perhaps  beg^Mm 
vuh  tear.s  not  to  wait,  but  to  go  at  onee.     fie  tells  lier  ne  ■ 
hap.s  that  ber  father  has  ceased  to  care  for  her  tha      ; Ls 
left  he    alone,  and  taken  her  brothers  and  sister  home  with 
hnn;  that  her  .nother  is  dead  and  her  father  has  a  new  wife 
who  w,  1  beat  her  if  she  goes  home;  that  she  is  to  stav  w  th 
him  t.11  some  yot.ng  brave  elaim.s  her  as  his  sqnaw      U    r  v 
be  th.at  she  St  11  weeps  obstinately,  and  that  he  dr  g.s  her   o 
the  pr.est.  to  be  terrified  into  obedience 

The  two  month.s  pas.s,  and  no  tiding.s  yet  of  Ettnice  at  Al- 
bany.    .Seven  years  elapse;   seven  weary  years  of  alternate 
hope  and  despa,r  .since    her  capture.-'vhen.  one   sttmrner 
morntng.  a  strange  visitor  ascends  the  broad  steps  of  the  Ud 
...vtnee  House  tn  Boston.     She  glides  through  the  spacious 
doorway  and  mto  the  grand  reception  room,  where  she  gTze 
about  her  w,th  a  half  frightened,  half  curious  air.     The  gov 
ernor  ,s  there  with  several  gentlemen.     "Who  is  she'     What 
does  she  want.-"  he  asks.     "An  Abenaki  squaw  "  the  usher 
rephes  "who  demands  her  children,  captured  by'the  En^lh 
some  t,me  smee,  and  now  in  ]3oston."     A  thought  .strikes 
he  governor.     He  will  e.xchange  the  children  of  this  ^m 
an  for  Eumee.    An  interpreter  is  sent  for.    "The  white  man  s 
a.xe  IS  laid  at  the  foot  of  the  forest  tree,"  .says  the  AbeZki 
"tts  branches  are  lopped  away  and  it  will  soon  die        The 
pappooses  are  brought,  and  while  the  mother  fondles  her 
young  m. savage  fashion,  the  interpreter  answers  for  the  gov 

Su  flT\""  '""';': '"'^  ''''■'■  "^■*«p''-'^  f"d  hTs' 

were  Med  ,,^r'  ^™"  ''^"'"^  "?""  *em,  and  some 
were  kdled.  and  others  driven  far  away.  Day  and  night  the 
shepherd  grieves  for  the  youngling  of  his  flock,  goneTs  ra" 


140  TRUE   STOKIKS   OK   NKW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


In  the  north  the  white  lamb  bleats,  but  cannot  find  her  way 
back.  Let  the  Abenaki  brin^  her  back  to  the  shepherd,  the 
white  chief  savs,  and  her  papp(K)ses  shall  be  restored  to  her; 
the  branches  shall  be  safe  and  the  forest  tree  shall  live 
again."  "One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin." 
"The  Abenaki  knows  where  the  white  lamb  is  hid.  She  will 
go,  and  before  so  many  moons  are  gone,  the  shepherd  shah 
have  his  own  again."  Another  fierce  embrace  of  her  chil- 
dren, and  the  squaw  strides  forth  into  the  wilderness.  How 
she  sped  on  her  quest,  is  shown  by  the  following  extract 
from  a  letter  in  our  archives,  written  by  Father  Meriel  in 
Canada,  to  Mr.  Johnson  Harmon'  at  Shamblee : 

'^"MoNTKEAL,  June  26,  171 1. 
Sir  ; 

Since  you  are  gone,  a  squaw  of  the  nation  of  the 
Abnakis  is  come  in  from  Boston.  She  has  a  pass  from  your  Gov- 
ernour.  She  goes  about  getting  a  little  girl  daughter  of  Mr.  John 
Williams.  The  Lord  NLirquis  of  Vaudreuil  helps  her  as  he  can. 
The  business  is  very  hard  because  the  girl  belongs  to  Indians  of 
another  sort,  and  the  master  of  the  English  girl  is  now  at  Albany. 
You  may  tell  your  Governour  that  the  squaw  can't  be  at  Boston  at 
the  time  appointed,  and  that  she  desires  him  not  to  be  impatient 
for  her  return,  and  meanwhile  to  take  good  cart  of  her  two  papows. 
The  same  Lord  chief  Governor  of  Canada,  has  insured  me  in  case 
she  may  not  prevail  with  the  Mohoggs  for  Eunice  Williams,  he  shall 
send  home  four  English  persons  in  his  power  for  an  Exchange  in 
the  Room  of  the  two  Indian  children.  You  see  well,  Sir,  your  (iov- 
ernour  must  not  disregard  such  a  generous  proffer  as  according  to 
his  noble  birth  and  obliging  genious  Ours  makes.  Else  he  would 
betray  little  affection  to  his  own  people." 

'Johnson  Harmon  of  York,  Maine,  is  on  a  "List  of  Captives  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  French  and  Indians  at  Canada  given  to  Mr.  Vaudruilie's  messen- 
gers," and  dated  1710-ir.     Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  71. 

'  Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  51,  p.  212.     See  Appendix. 


EUNICE    WILLIAMS. 

'4' 

A^rain  Dcerficld  is  ajritatcd  with  rumoiwThT^        \ 
covery  of  Eunice  Willhm.      Ii  ^''''''^y  '*^^- 

In  a  letter  to  the  Freneh  if"vern„r.  dated  Nov    ,o   ,,„ 
Dudley.impatientef  thedeliv  «•,,-,;.  ..it         ■  ^    ■ 

one  Indian  saehem  of  O  ,ebeek     ,  k-   V,  '™ '",'"-'  '^'"'""S 

erwise  I  will  never  set  them  free." 
Meantime,  h.aving  notified  Sehuyler  of  his  interview  with 

ou    fo  ''S'retTJrr;:":!^^'^"-""'  'r  '"^-P-«>^'    >"ok 
from  Peter  SchTler        ""'''"'' ^' ''"^'  '^^  following  letter 

••May  il  please  your  Excellency, 

of  y  6".  and  ,0".  Currant  for  Exnre«e  hJt  '''^"'^''«"'^>''''  '■"'«••» 
five  letters  fur  Mens'  V„„lr.,,  l  ,,       •    ''"'^''''  "'«""•"  "i"' 

to  y.  freneh  offic  r  l)ayri  ,"     ,,r;„:   'f"    V'''"''  '"™  "^"""" 
&  have  taken  his  Recelnr  or  ^ZfT,.  '""  >"  I  ''I  '"^'^"" 

is  here  Jnclo.sed  a,  to   v    .t   vo\  J  V       "' "' '""   '"="«"«''  >'»i<^" 

nor  have  I  heard  anyfhr  '.rhe:*^"      inT:,:  „=  rr:!,  ^T  ""  r,' 
to  see  then,  and  do  assure  your  ExcelleTu  v  If  if  ''  *'"'' 

or  he  it  y.  squaw  alone  I  shall  use  al    '  , "s  k     ''/  "'"  '"^"''" 
child  e.xchanKed  Either  as  vour  pU   ,  '  '°  «>"  ""= 

way  the  squafv  will  ^: Zi:Z^^^Z^':^  °;  T^'  "^" 

s:u:;t';:h';;:i'™:eLt;^'r'''T7"''^""^ 

vour  K.e„eney  :naT:;^„:X;'::att?;ea7d?fr  y'.'^J^ 

This  IS  Jean  Baptiste  Dageuille   Sero-ean.  in  fh 
est.  who  on  May  26,  ,711    at  the  aJ!'o7  r  ^"mpany  of  M.  de  la  For- 

Priscille  Storer,  da  ghter'  o     Jere^^  ah    and  "r'TV^""'   '""^  '^^P''-  ^-'e 
Maine.  *"  Jeremiah    and    Ruth    [Masters]    Storer   of   Wells. 


142 


TUUK   SToKIF.S   OF   NKW    EXGLANlJ   CAPTIVES. 


ing  of  y"  s''  Child  shall  at  no  time  he  wanting.     So  shall  take  leave 
to  siil)scrihe  my  Selfc 

Your  Kxcclh'iu'y" 

Most  humble  .Si  Obedient 

Servant 

P.  Schuyler. 
Albany,  Dec.  19.  (?)  171-'." 

Accompanying  this  letter  in  otir  Archives,  i.s  the  foHowing  : 
"Received  of  CloU.  P.  Schuyler,  three  French  letters  sent  him  from 
Ciovernor  Duiiley,  tlirected  to  Moils'"  N'audreiul,  govern'r  in  (Canada 
which  Letters  I  promise  carefully  to  C^onvey  &  Deliver  to  y*  said 
(jovcrn'  in  Canada  as  soon  as  1  shall  arrive  there  witness  my  trtid 
this  19th  December  1712 

[Signed]  Dageuille.'" 

Father  Meriel  had  written  that  the  French  governor  wouhl 
give  four  English  captives  in  exchange  for  the  two  Abenaqni 
pappoo.ses.  It  had  now  become  evident  that  he  wovild  not 
give  one  ;  that  one  being  Eunice  Williams. 

Months  later  than  the  date  of  vSchuyler's  letter,  and  the  re- 
turn of  Dageuille  to  Canada,  the  sqitaw  appeared  alone  at 
Albany.  The  same  old  story  is  repeated.  The  child  Eunice 
refuses  to  leave  her  master.  He  is  loath  to  cotnpel  her. 
Such  influence  is  brought  to  bear  upon  Dudley,  that  he  dares 
not  reject  the  offer  of  the  Canadian  government.  Four  New 
England  households  are  made  happy  by  the  return  of  their 
beloved  ones  ;  the  squaw  and  her  babies  are  sent  home  ;  but 
Eunice  Williams,  the  child  of  so  many  prayers,  the  object  of 
the  solicitude  of  so  many  sorrowing  hearts,  the  coveted  prize 
of  two  governments,  is  still  a  helpless  captive. 

In  the  spring  of  171 3,  John  Schuyler,  impatient  of  the  long 
suspense,  and  fully  confident  of  his  own  ability  to  mediate 
efitectually  between    the  two   powers,  undertook  the  weary 

'It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  Frenchmen  who  had  married  our  captives, 
were  often  sent  to  New  England,  as  ambassadors  from  the  Canadian  govern- 
ment. 


Kl'NlCK    W'lLUAMS.  ,^, 
'43 

jmm,ey  to  Canada.     Hi.  letter'  to  Ooy.rl^::^^^~^~;~ 

''May  it  please  your  /uxceiiency:— 

-diately  w.ho.t  ..,  ......  0..ssi...,  u^^ ^^  2^7^ 

Icncy  n>y  return  fro.n  Mont   Real!  to  Albany,  u,  J,  ^  .."'h': 

instant  June  with  Mons-"  Holock  md  M,r,.,.  ..,  ^ 

.,  li^t  ,.f  .1    •  »"'ocK  and  three  more,  and  nine  prisoners 

a  list  of  their  names  is  herein   inclosed'^     1   sett  th^m   f- 

Neu-  England   with  Samel  Ashly    tncrDan  ei  T"'^  ^"^ 

instant.     I  have  not  herein  inc  ft        h    c     ,  J    f  '"""  "?  "" '" 

■nake  up  the  Acc^^  till  v^  nffl  ^haiges;  l,y  reason  I  cann' 

enclos.- for  VV  Fx  I         ^'^^^'IJ^^^^'^^  ^- 0.n:..\^.  I  have  likewise 

My   indefatigueahle   Paii^  ^.^.^^1!:'::^^:;::  ^  ^^'^ ' 

sh    rdi'     M      :  ^^^^""  "^  ^"^^^^^  ^  ^'"^^  ^^  recJive'them ;     nd  t^^n" 
shal    dispatch  them   away  as  directed.     1  found  a  great  fati.ne  in 

.es  n  3  uay  u  the  Prisonirs  To  Dilate  thereon  would  be  prolix 
I  now  beg  leave  to  assure  your  Excellency  of  my  Effection  -.n  7.  .' 
U>  every^.  Commands  and  that  in  all  SiLerit/l^^;  ^Pl^^ 

Vo'-  most  obedient  humble  Serv' 

...  ,  ^o^^n  Schuyler. 

Albany  June  y*^ 

i8"'  1713" 

htatePapei  The  writers  sanguine  hope,  after  his  confer 
encewth  the  fair-spoken  De  Vaudret.il!  his  indignation  a^" 
the  m.qu.tous  marriage,  calmed  by  the  explanatfo"of  he 
pr.est ;  h.s  gentle  and  chivalrous  reception  of  the  girl  bride  • 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol    II,  p.  4^8. 

'■'Herte!  de  Beaulac,  brother  of  Hertel  Hp  Rr^nuni^    • 


144 


TRUE    STOKIKS    OF    \KW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


his  patient  and  repeated  pleading  with  her  to  return  to  her 
afflicted  father  ;  his  unrestrained  anger  at  her  continued  ob- 
stinacy ;  and  the  silent  grief  which  overwhelms  him  at  the 
thought  of  his  fruitless  mission,  as  he  leaves  her  to  her  In- 
dian lord; — all  are  told  with  a  simple  pathos,  to  which  the 
words  of  another  cannot  do  justice.  It  is  thereft.re  given 
entire. 

"A  true  and  perfect  .Memorial!  of  my  proceedings  Jn  behalf  of 
Margarett  Williams  now  Captive  amongst  ye  Jndians  at  the  I'fort  c*" 
Caghenewag.  Jn  Canada,  Insisting  upon  her  Reliese  and  to  pe'-suade 
her  to  go  home  to  her  father  and  Native  Countrey,  it  being  upon  the 
instant  and  earnest  desire  of  her  ffather  now  Minister  at  Dearfeild 
in  New  England.  J  arrived  from  Albany  at  Mont  Reall  on  ye  15"' 
of  Aprill  last,  17 13,  Where  J  untlerstood  y'  Mons"'  de  N'audruille, 
Govern""  and  chief  of  Canada,  was  expected  then  every  day  from 
Quebeck.  Upon  which  J  thought  i)roper  not  to  ment'on  anything 
touching  the  aforesaid  Captive,  untill  his  P^xcellency  {■/lould  be  here 
himself:  and  accordingly  when  he  arrived  here  J  propos'd  the  mat- 
ter to  him,  who  gave  me  all  the  Kncouragem'  J  could  immagine 
for  her  to  go  home,  he  also  permitted  me  to  go  to  her  at  the  ffort, 
where  she  was,  to  prepare  if  J  could  persuade  her  to  go  home. 
Moreover,  his  Exceileiu  y  said,  that  w"'  all  his  heart,  he  would  give 
a  hundred  Crowns  out  of  his  own  pockett,  if  that  she  might  be  per- 
suaded to  go  to-  her  Na'dve  Countrey:  T  observing  all  this,  then  was 
in  hopes  J  should  prevaile  with  her  to  go  home.  Accordmgly  J 
went  to  the  ffort  at  Caghtnewaga,  being  accompanied  by  one  of  the 
King's  Officerb  and  a  ffrcnch  Interpreter,  likewise  another  of  the  Jn- 
dian  Language  Being  upon  the  26  l);>v  of  May.  Entring  at  the  Ju- 
dian  ffort  J  thought  fitt  first  to  apply  mySelf  to  the  priests  ;  As  J 
did.  Being  two  in  Company,  .Vnd  was  informed  before  that  this  in- 
fant (As  J  may  say)  was  married  to  a  young  Jndian,  J  therefore  pro- 
posed to  know  the  Reason  why  this  poor  Captive  should  be  Married 
1-  an  Jndian,  being  a  Christian  Born  (tho  neerly  taken  fron)  the 
Mother's  BreaSv.  ari  such  like  Instances  &c)  Whereupon  the  priest 
Sett  forth  to  me  Sucii  good  Reasons  w"'  Witnesses',  that  mySelf,  or 


EUNICE    TILLIAMS. 


145 


any  other  perso,,  (as  J  bdieve)  could  fairly  make  Objection  against 
.  e,r  N  arnage;  (Kitst,  „■.  he  they  came  to  me  to  Marry  then  f  v  r 

»  g  e^hft  '^""""»'"«  ■■>  th-r  forn.er  resolution  to  Such  a 

IJeg  ec  that  J  was  constrameii  to  l>e  absent  from  y"  ffort  three  Sev 
era  I    nnes.  because  not  Sa.isfyecl  mySelf  in  their  Marriage      Un  ill 
=  t  las   after  S„n,e  clays  past  they  both  came  to  n,e,  and  s^that  .1,  v 
were  Jomed  together,  And  if  he  would  not  marry  th^n  they         t  r' 
not.  for  they  were  resolved  never  to  leave  one  the  other      But  In-e 
tog.. her  heathen  like  ;   Upon  w^''  J  thought  proper  .0  Join  Z,     n 

"rh'a;;:,  a  t"'" '""  f^^T"'"^  ^'"^'■'"■^'  '^^ »™-  "■"  i''^^"' 

et  n  e  see  her  at  h,s  house,  llor  J  knew  not  where  to  find  her  upon 
M  rt  ;rrth  :       V""  "^■''•"">'-'-  "Itl,  the  .mdlan  s  e  'a 
m  the  face  but  proved  harder  than  Steel  in  l,er  breast    a    her  1 
^.m-ance  n,to   the  Roon,  J  desired  her  to  s„t  down,  w'l:   h     11      J 
firs    bpoak   to  her  u,  Knglish,    Upon   w-   she   did     „t  Aus  v     ue 
And  J   bebeve  She  did   uo.  understand   „,e,  she  being  very  V„     ^ 
when  she  was  taken,  And  liveiug  always  au.ougst  th,-  f„  l"'„,    f    , 

i  firs!  r  he';!-  ""^T"  '■'"'"'''" '" '''  -  ^"^  '•-"-"« 

nun  first  b     the  llreuch  J.uerpreter,  who  uu.lerstood  the  Knglish 

Ask  her  Accordmgly  he  d,d  J  understood  an.ost  all  what  he  said 
.0  her;  And  found  that  he  Spoak  according  ,0  „,y  Order  u  Id 
no.  gett   one  word  fro.a   her.     Upon  which  J  deLed  the  p  iest  "  t 

imher  ag.  ,„,      I  he  priest  made  a  long  Speech  to  her  and  endeavored 
.opersu,ade  her  to  go,  but  after  abnost   half  a„  hours  d  sc     ts 
could  not  get  one  word  from   her;  And  af,er,vards  whe     he  fo  „"^ 
She  d,d  not  Speak,  he  agau,  Endeavoured  to  per--,ade  her  to  M  and 
see  her  ffather     And  J  seeing  She  continued  impersuad      e  to  spea 

her  Itather    J  would  convey  her  to  New   Kngland  and  give  her  As 
.sureance  of  hbert,  to  return  if  she  pleased-the   priesf  asked  he" 


'^^"W 


^ 


m^ 


146 


IKUF.    STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


Severall  times  fur  answer  upon  this,  my  earnest  request  And  fair 
offers  w'^''  was  after  long  Solicitations  zaghte  Oi^hte  which  words 
being  translated  into  the  F.nglish  Tongue,  their  Signifycation  is  may 
be  not;  but  the  meaning  thereof  amongst  the  Jndians  is  a  plaine 
denyall,  and  these  words  were  all  we  could  gett  from  her;  in  allmost 
two  hours  time  that  we  talked  with  her.  L^pon  this  my  eyes  being 
allmost  filled  with  tears,  J  said  tt)  her  mySelf.  had  J  made  such  pro- 
posalls  and  prayings  to  the  worst  of  Jndians  J  did  not  doubt  but 
have  had  a  reasonable  Answere  and  consent  to  what  J  had  s'".  Uj)- 
on  w'"'  her  husband  seeing  that  J  was  so  much  concerned  about 
her  replyed  had  her  ffather  not  Married  againe  She  would  have  gone 
and  Seen  him  long  Ere  this  time,  Hut  gave  no  further  reason  and 
the  time  growing  late  and  J  being  very  Sorrowfull  that  J  could  not 
prevail  upon  nor  get  one  word  more  from  her,  J  took  her  by  the 
hand  and  left  her  in  the  priest's  house.  John  Schuyler." 

De  Vatidreiiil  sent  a  letter  to  Dudley  by  Schuyler,  on  his 
return,  in  which  he  says,  "Colonel  John  Schtiyler,  to  whom 

I  have  catised  to  be  delivered  nine  of  your  captives, 

will  tell  yoti  in  what  manner  Mr.  Williams's  datii^hter  received 
him,  and  how  he  could  never  oblig-e  her  to  promise  him  any- 
thing but  that  she  would  go  to  see  her  father,  as  soon  as 
peace  should  be  proclaimed.  I  am  surprised  at  the  little  jtis- 
tice  you  do  me  in  what  you  say  to  me  about  the  marriage  of 
that  girl  with  a  savage  of  the  vSault.^  I  am  much  more  cha- 
grined at  this  than  yott  are,  on  account  of  her  father  for 
whom  I  have  ai^solute  respect ;  but  not  being  able  to  foresee 
this,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  prevent  it." 

Schuyler's  ill  success  did  not  prevent  ftirther  efforts  for 
the  .aemption  of  Eunice.  (>ri  the  271:11  of  June,  1713,  short- 
ly after  the  receipt  of  the  above  memorial.  Governor  Dudley 
writing  to  congratulate  the  Governor  of  Canada  up(;n  the  re- 
ttirn  of  peace  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  his  letter  of  the 
1 2th  inst.  and  acquaints  him  of  the  arri\^al  of  "John  vSchuyler 

'Saint-Louis.    [Caughnawaga.] 


EUNICE   WILLIAMS.  ,  .- 


far  sLort  o     h     *"      ,  ""7'""''  '''''  --™™Panied  him  being 
far  short  of  the  number  I  justly  expected  should  have  been 
eturned  me ;  who  would  doubtless  have  been  vervlrward 
o  have  come  home  had  they  been  allowed  soe  to  doe  Th 

sire  and  Choice,  at  ray  charge,  .all  the  French  prisoners  that 
were  m  my  hands,  and  am  in  the  hourlv  expectat'o,   „    re 
ce.v,„g  an  order   directed   to   yourself  'from'  t h^  C  u      o" 
i  ance,  requ.r.ng  the  same  on  your  part  fa  copy  of  wh  eh  I 
have  now  >„  my  hands),  I  have  no  satisfactory  explantk.n 

Hm?  "r'"'r'  "'  ""  ""'•""^"'  "f  "-  Revc  end'M,    W  1 
hams  s  daughter,   referring  to  her  marriage  with  a  Salvte 
and  the  unaccountable  detention  of  her.  'she  ^0,0"™' 
.deed  as  a  m.nor  within  y^'  age  of  consent  to  make  chi^e 
fo.  herselfe  bcng  carryd  away  early  in  her  infancy  before 
she  had  drscretion  to  judge  of  thing,s' for  her  o„m  ,  o  d 
hope  you  w,Il  interfere  with  all  good  offices  to  free  hcM-    rom 
the  Impositions  made  on  her  tender  vears  tint  si, 
rescued  from  those  miseries  she  irthoCgh  y    b        "i:;   ^ 
and  restored  to  her  father."    D„dlev  ad.ls  tl,.f  ;  ,'       , 

«pon  the  receipt  of  the  order  fr^ 7he1tnc  'k r'"'  ^rt*-  I 
elea.se  of  the  captives  he  "shall  put  that  affair  i  Uo  si  c  a 
disposition  that  r  may  be  provided  to  transp  r  md  e  eh 
home  ray  people:  and  I  desire  you  will  cause  tl  In,  to  be 
drawn  near  together,  that  the  messengers  I  slnlw^  1 
that  .rvice  raay  easily  and  speedily^-miVat 'Urh'Ti™ 

The  order  above  alluded  to  having  been  received  (^.m..,- 


"*aMsi^-.- 


148  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

manuscript,  is  before  me,  and  though  it  contains  little  per- 
taining especially  to  Eunice,  it  gives  us  a  clue  to  so  much  of 
the  romantic  story  of  some  other  capti^'es,  that  the  substance 
of  it  is  here  given. 

On  the  5th  of  November,  171 3,  Capt.  Stoddard,  accompan- 
ied by  Eunice's  father,  set  out  from  Boston,  reaching  North- 
ampton on  the  9th.  Here  they  were  joined  by  Capt.  Thomas 
Baker,  Martin  Kellogg  and  two  others.  Baker  and  Kellogg 
had  both  been  carried  captive  with  Eunice  to  Canada,  whence 
the  former  had  almost  succeeded  in  escaping,  but  was  recap- 
tured and  sentenced  to  the  stake.  The  fire  was  already 
lighted,  when  with  a  bold  dash  he  broke  from  his  captors, 
and  sought  refuge  in  the  house  of  one  LeCair,  a  Frenchman, 
who  bought  him  of  the  Indians  for  five  pounds.  The  gov- 
ernor hearing  of  his  attempt,  put  him  in  irons  and  kept  him 
four  months  closely  confined.  When  again  at  large,  he,  with 
Kellogg,  Joseph  Petty  and  John  Nims,  all  Deerfield  men, 
made  his  escape  in  1705.  Their  sufferings  on  the  way 
home  were  dreadful.  Exhausted  with  fatigue  and  hunger, 
they  fell  upon  their  knees  and  prayed  fervently  for  deliver- 
ance, when  a  great  white  bird  appeared  to  them,  such  as 
they  had  never  seen  before.'  The  despairing  men  eagerly 
seized  and  tore  it  in  pieces,  ate  its  quivering  flesh  and  drank 
the  warm  blood,  revived  by  which  they  finally  reached  Deer- 
field  in  .safety. 

By  way  of  Westfield  and  Kinderhook,  Stoddard  and  his 
party  on  horseback,  reached  Albany  in  four  days  from  North- 
ampton. Detained  in  Albany  by  a  thaw  which  rendered  the 
river  impassable,  they  at  last  resumed  their  journey  on  the 
22d  of  January,  by  way  of  Saratoga  and  Crown  Point.  Some- 
times on  snow-shoes,  sometimes  in  canoes,  and  sometime 

'According  to  tradition  tliis  bird  was  an  owl.  Petty's  own  account  of  his 
escape,  now  in  Memorial  Hall,  Deerfield,  transforms  this  owl  into  a  turtle.  See 
also  Sheldon's  Hist.  Deerfield,  p.  354. 


fli 


EUNICK   WILLIAMS.  j  .q 


running  on  the  frozen  rivers,  they  reached  Chambly,  whenee 

llhTZrr/""^  "'  "  "''''^'^'  "  '  '"  ^'^"^^^^^'  --^^-^i^^i"^  there 
on  the  i6th  of  January. 

The  next  clay,  they  presented  their  ere.lentials  to  the  <rov. 

ernor  and   demanded   the    prisoners.     De   Vandreuil  ..?ves 

them   h.s  word  of  honor  as  a  gentleman  and  an  officer  that 

all  prisoners  shall  have  full  liberty  to  return,  and  with  in-ea 

condeseenston  promi,ses  his  ble.ssing  to  all  who  will  go      He 

ells  tl,e  eomm.ssioners  to  go  freely  amonff  the  prisoners  and 

o  send  for  them  to  their  Iod,nn,.s.     Mueirpleas'd  witl   their 

ecept.on,  and  full  of  the  hope  of  soon  regaining  their  lone 

that  the  pr,ests  and  .some  of  the  laity  are  praetising  to  pre 
vent  the  return  of  the  prisoners,  they  complain  hylet  efto 
he  governor,  to  which  he  replies  that  he  -can  as  easily  a  ter 
dd-'un;  "^«-^f-.-P--nt  the  priests'  endea™  " 
adding  that  upon  reflection  he  cannot  grant  libertv  to  return 
to  tho.se  of  the  English  who  are  naturalized,  bn  only  to  u  h 
as  are  under  age.  Tney  answer  with  clear  and  cogent  argu 
ments  against  the  naturalization  pretext,  and  e.xpo.seitsl^ 

rcl'id  n"ot  ""'/''^  ''/'"""""'^  "''--^P^'^'"'  deelafation    hat 

e,  t  1  h,  tt     T  r  '"*  '^"»"^''  ■^''■'y«l  '"  Canada,  the  few- 
ei  the  better  for  him  and  the  country 

field'caoti^s'Tr""'"'""™  """  '■"'""■'-'  -«>  the  otlier  Deer, 
in  Mai Th     '"-■"-■'""•"f  ™=>»  ■■eturn  to  Montreal,  where 
m  Ma.  h  they  hold  another  conference  with  the  governor 
W  th  the  air  and  speech  of  men  who  know  that  tnith  and 

ot  faith  ,n  throwing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  departure  of 

he  prisoners,  when  he  had  at  first  pretended  to  favor  i      and 

.ck  with  hope  deferred,  they  demand  to  know  the  wo,"  t 

they  have  to  expect.     "Heaven  forbid  !  "  said  Dora'    nana  to 

David  Copperlield  -that  I  should  do  any  man  in^istiee  'bm 

'A  carriole  is  a  Canadian  sleigh. 


mmmmmm'm'im^^Km^rsmmmmiim^''^itimf^Kr'^-xst- --an^ 


i;o  TKUK    STOKIKS   OF    N'KW    E\(;LANI)    CAPTIVES. 


I  know  my  partner.  Mr.  Jorkins  is  not  a  man  to  respond  to 
a  proposition  of  this  nature  ;  " — and  lamented  the  severities 
whieh  he  was  eompelled  to  praetise,  by  the  invisible  and 
inexorable  Jorkins.  In  like  manner  the  governor  protests 
that  nothinj^  is  nearer  his  heart  than  the  liberation  of  the 
prisoners,  whieh  t)nly  the  fear  of  the  king-  his  master,  pre- 
vents his  effeeting  at  onee  ;  and  at  length  he  hints,  that  if 
the  so-ealled  naturalized  persons  can  be  smuggled  to  a  point 
below  Quebec,  Captain  Stoddard  may  take  them  on  shipboard 
as  he  drops  down  the  river,  and  the  government  will  not  in- 
terfere. 

One  reads  the  sorrow  and  anxiety  in  the  heart  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, as  he  demands  that  "men  and  women  shall  not  be  en- 
tangled by  the  marriages  they  may  have  contracted,  nor 
parents  by  children  born  to  them  in  captivity."  The  govern- 
or concedes  that  French  women  may  return  with  their 
English  husbands,  that  English  women  shall  not  be  forced 
to  stay  by  their  French  husbands,  but  about  the  children  of 
such  marriages,  he  is  not  so  sure. 

John  Carter,  a  Deerfield  youth  of  Eunice's  age,  Iiaving  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  go  by  land,  if  only  he  may  go 
home,  the  governor  says,  "If  John  will  say  this  before  me, 
he  may  go."  Carter  being  sent  for  is  at  first  awed  by  the 
governor's  presence  and  denies  that  he  has  any  desire  to  re- 
turn, but  afterwards  repeating  what  he  had  before  said  to 
Mr.  Williams,  De  Vaudreuil  is  very  angry,  uses  the  lad 
roughly,  and  tells  him  he  is  to  wait  for  the  ship.  This  scene 
is  fre  ently  re-enacted,  till  John  at  last  is  overpowered,  re- 
tracts his  wish,  and  remains  forever  in  Canada. 

Mr.  Williams  is  forbidden  to  have  any  religious  talk  with 
the  captives,  and  they  are  not  allowed  to  visit  him  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  "Lord  Intendant,"  hearing  that  Mr.  Williams 
had  been  abroad  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  dis- 
course upon  religion  with  some  of   the  English,  threatens 


EUNICE    \VII,I,[A.N[,S. 

'3' 


If  he  Offence  is  repeated,  to  confine  him  a  prisoner  in  his 
lodgings:  "fc.r,-  says  he,  "the  priests  tell  n;e  you  undo  in  a 
moment  all  they  have  done  in  seven  years  to  establish  the 
people  m  our_  relicrion/'-an  unpremeditated  compliment  to 
Mr.  \\  illi.ams  s  power  as  a  preacher 

Wlicn  Mr.  Williams  bcKS  ll.at  his  d,ikl  may  b.  restored 
to  l,im.  she  beintf  a  minor,  ami  the  eireumstanees  of  her  ed 
tication  preventins:  licr  fro,,,  k„owi„jr  what  is  best  for  her 
the  governor  says  if  l,er  I,rdia„  relatives  eonsent.  he  will 
co,„pe  her  to  ,-et„r„  with  he,-  father.  The  government  in. 
terpicter  .s  .se,,t  to  talk  w,th  her  and  her  Indian  .elatives. 
1 1"-'  1=;  t^'--  profess  that  she  may  do  as  sl,e  pleases.  Knowin.r 
what  th,s  a,n.n,nted  to  in  John  Ca.-ler's  ease,  JI,-.  Williams" 

he  found  the  pnsonei-s  "worse  than  the  natives,"  has  a  eon 
fo-enee  w,th  the  p,-iest,,  of  the  mission  at  the  h.mseof  t7e 
gm-ernor  who  ,„akes  a  show  of  intereeding  in  behalf  of  the 
Cat^hl        ""■•     "'^  J-"''»   -ply   coldfv,   that   those   of 

ed^    hi  ?'■■'''"■'  T  '"^■"  '"  ''""■""'■-^' ''""'«™  l'--"  adopt- 
ed as  ehildren,  and  eannot  be  compelled  to  retnni  ■x.r-.iL 

i  r  W.lUams  knows  the  freedom  whieh  the  .nother  ehnre 
of  the  Jestnts  leaves  to  its  adopted  ehildren.     The  eommi 
■sioners  so  ,e,t  her  deliveranee  as  a  favor  whieh  willTe  an 
predated  by  the  sove.-eig„s  of  the  two  nations,  and     t.itably 
ackncnv  edged  by  the  governors  of  both  provinces.     It  tt 

le  nit!  tw^-  """™'r'  '"  '""  '^■'--""*^-»'  ■■'-'P— '«  to  the 
iddftlev  ■     """I"!     "r"  "'«"  t" '•<-■'-"  sueh  children, 
While    they     cannot  but  be  .sensible  that  their  parents  an 
much  exercsed  about  then,,"  and  with  tears  strean>in"do™ 

be  done  by.     \  a,n  appeal  to  tlie  heart  that  knows  not  "he 
force  of  paternal  love. 
In  sueh  discussion  weeks  were  spent.    The  disappointment 


«OT 


152 


TRUE   STORIES   OK   NEW   ENGLAND   CAFTIVES. 


of  Captain  Stoddard,  who  with  liis  personal  interest  in  the 
restoration  of  Eunice  to  her  family,  had  also  honied  to  render 
a  signal  service  to  his  <;"overnmcnt ;  the  conflict  in  the  soul 
of  Mr.  Williams,  as  he  tried  to  reconcile  Ids  natural  affection 
as  a  parent,  and  his  spiritual  anxiety  as  a  Protestant  minister 
for  the  salvation  of  the  child's  soul,  with  a  due  submission 
to  what  seemed  to  be  the  over-rulin;^'  decrees  of  I'rovidence 
for  her  ;  and  the  impatience  and  indignation  of  Martin  Kel- 
logg and  Captain  l>akcr,  who  would  doubtless  have  ])referred 
to  make  a  short  cut  thnmgh  the  difficult)-  by  running  oil  the 
prisoners  and  taking  the  chances  of  recapture, —all  this  is 
easier  imagined  than  described. 

The  expression  of  their  feelings  being  limited  by  their  ig- 
norance of  the  French  language,  and  the  inconvenience  of 
speaking  by  an  interpreter,  they  poured  forth  their  souls  in 
letters,  in  which  the  straightforward,  plain  dealing  of  the 
English  Puritan,  appears  in  striking  cf)ntrast  to  the  eireum- 
loeution  and  diplomacy  of  the  French  Jesuit. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  l)rigantine  Leopard  from  1  Boston,  a 
final  demand  was  made  for  the  captives. 

The  commissioners,  finally  compelled  to  abandon  all  hope 
of  Eunice's  return,  insist  that  ^Madame  Le  Dean'  shrdl  be  al- 
lowed to  depart ;  and  desire  that  Ebenezer  Xims  and  his 
wnfe  and  child  may  be  sent  for,  tlicy  being  anxious  to  return 
but  afraid  to  say  so,  "till  they  see  themselves  clear  of  all 
danger  from  the  Indians."  Nims,  then  seventeen  years  old, 
had  been  carried  captive  from  Dcerficld  in  1704,  and  adopted 
by  an  Indian  .squaw.  Sarah  lloit,  a  maiden  of  eighteen,  was 
taken  at  the  same  time.  When  after  some  years,  her  cap- 
tors were  about  to  resort  to  force  to  compel  her  to  marry  a 
Frenchman,  she  had  offered  to  accept  as  her  husband  any 
one  of  her  captive  neighbors  who  would  thus  free  her  from 
her  troublesome   suitcu-.     Ebenezer  gladly  offered    him.self. 

'  See  the  story  of  "Christine  Otis." 


EUMCK    Wri.IJA.MS.  j.. 


1  hey  were  married  at  once,  and  at  this  time  were  with  their 
baby  boy  at  Lorette,  eagerly  hoping  for  deliverance  The 
governor  promises  that  a  horse  or  cart  shall  be  sent  for  Nims's 
wite  who  ,s  ill.  and  that  all  the  family,  unaccompanied  by 
priest  or  Indian,  shall  be  bnn.ght  to  Ouebec.  Captain  Stod- 
dard sends  his  „wn  physician  to  assist  her  on  the  iournev 
He  returns  with  the  information  that  the  woman  is  able  to 
walk  to  town,  and  that  he  has  been  grosslv  insulted  by  the 
Jesuit    priest   at    Lorette.     Nims   is   sent,  'accompanied   by 

divers  Indians,    but  at  last  by  the  persistence  of  Stoddard 
all  are  assembled  and  put  on  board.     The   next  day  a  ^rreat 
concourse  of  Indians  came  from  Lorette,  and  demanding  to 
see  Nims,  were  assured  by  him  that  he  wished  to  go  home 
Ihen  they  insisted  upon  his  giving  up  his  child,  which  he 
refusing,  was  permitted  to  return  with  his  family  to  his  na 
tive  town.     Years  after,  the  Deerfield  records  tell  how'"Eb- 
enezcr  Nims.  Junior,   having  been    baptized  by  a  Romish 
priest,  in  Canada,  and  being  dissatisfied  with  his  baptism 
upon  consenting  to  the  articles  of  faith,"  was  baptized  anew 
by  good  Parson  Ashley.  -     i^w 

One  more  effort  was  made  by  the  Bishop,  and  high  officials 
to  prevent  Madame  Le  Beau  from  going,  but  in  vain 

On  the  24th  of  July,  1714,  after  nine  montns  absence  from 
home,  the  commissioners  set  sail,  having  effected  the  deliv- 
erance of  but  twenty-six  prisoners;  as  Stoddard  sadly  re- 
marks,  "Not  having  received  the  promised  list  from  the  gov- 
ernor;  without  having  our  people  assembled  at  Quebec,  or 
half  of  them  asked  whether  they  would  return  or  m^t,  or  ;ne 
mnior  compelled  ;  having  never  seen  many  of  our  prisoners 
while  we  were  m  the  country." 

This  was  the  last  official  effort  for  the  redemption  of  Eu- 
nice \\  ilhams.     In  .  740,  their  faithful  friends,  the  Schuylers 
brough    about  an   interview  between   her  and  her  relatives 
and  yielding  at  last  to  their  importunities,  she  in  later  years 


154 


IRUE    STORIES    OF    NEW    ENCiLAND    CArilVES. 


thrice  revisited  the  place  of  her  nativity.  That  she  insisted 
upon  returnin}^  to  her  Canadian  home,  and  linally  died  there 
at  the  advanced  a^i;'c  of  ninety,  is  to  i.iy  mini),  no  more  than 
her  marriai^e,  a  proof  of  her  preference  for  sava<je  haunts 
and  modes  of  life.  It  is  well  known  tluit  ICno-H.sh  jrjrls,  cap- 
tured at  the  same  time,  were  forced  into  marria^-cs  with  the 
French  and  Indians,  iitterly  repu.i^'nant  to  their  feelinj^'s.  At 
the  time  of  Eunice's  memor;d)le  visit  to  Deerfield,  children 
had  been  born  to  her,  and  to  the  maternal  instinct,  the  r.trou}^- 
est  passion  of  which  the  human  soul  is  capable,  even  filial 
al'feetion  must  yield. 

If  we  admit  the  statement  that  her  Indian  husband  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Williams,'  this,  and  the  name  of  her 
father  bestowed  upon  her  eldest  child.  ])rovc  the  ling-erinj^ 
fondness  in  her  heart  for  lier  kinsfolk.  Althougdi  robbed  of 
the  Christian  name  g-iven  her  by  her  father  in  baptism,  she 
would  not  renounce  the  name  of  her  race. 

Another  proof  that  the  heart  of  Ivunice  ^Villiams  never 
ceased  to  turn  in  love  towards  the  home  of  her  infancy,  and 
that  she  spared  no  pains  to  perpetuate  this  affection  in  her 
descendants,  is  afforded  by  their  visit  nearly  a  hundred  years 
later,  to  the  spot  from  whence,  on  February  29.  1704,  she  had 
been  painfully  torn."-'  Weighino-  carefully  the  evidence,  it 
seems  indisputable  that  it  was  Ro:  .anism  warring"  against 
Protestantism,  Jesuit  against  Puritan,  that  held  Eunice  Wil- 
liams eighty-three  years  a  captive. 

'Eunice  Williams's  husband  is  kimuii  in  Xcu'  ICiiglatnl  as  "Anirnsus."  I 
believe  this  is  a  corruption  of  the  FrtiKii  "Anibroisf,"  [Ambrose,]  vvhiili  was 
proliably  given  to  this  ("hristiaii  Indian  at  his  bajitism.     ('.  A.  K. 

'•'See  Appendix. 


ENSIGN  JOHN   SHKLUON. 


A  noted  ph,co  is  the  Plyn.s  ,„uuth  in  OUl  ICnj^hincl.  On 
U.bU,e  waters  have  Hoated  ships  „f  Tyre  and  tnerehantnien 
of  Massd.a.  Kelt.e  eoraele  and  Roman  galley.  Saxon  keel  and 
Norman  corsa.r.  Callant  fleets  with  fair  foreign  brides  for 
LngMsh  prmees,  have  sailed  into  I'lymouth  harbor.  Hither 
too  eame  false  Philip  of  Spain,  on  his  w.ay  to  his  luckless 
weddtng;  and  hence  the  pride  of  En^dand's  n.avy  went  ottt  to 
chasase    „s  msolent  Arn,ada.     Not  for  these  will  the  Plym. 

t lerctcpfr'p'"    ";■■"■"■    '-""""-^^    ""■■    "e-«seitL 
hue  the  Hiaek  Prnue  landed  with  his  royal  c.-tptivcs,  .-.fter 

iav  "!',?.,.""'■        T,  ",'■"'"■  '""'  '^■•'^^^'"•^-  """  '>">'-■'■  "ot«d 
na  .gato,,s.  proceeded  thence  on  their  voyages  of  discovery: 

but  because  U  ,s  .he  port  fron,  which  those  nobler  heroel 

f  eed,nf'n"",       ",     "■■  ""'"'  "■'"-'"    "'=>•  ^■■•'"«^  '<>  -''-'blish 
world  ,  'T    ?  '"  '""^  ^'"■■'  "'"'"•  Pl^'"""g  here  the 

lutle  seed  whtch  has  grown  and  blossomed  into  the  grandest 
Republic  on  the  globe.  kianue.si 

Ten  years  later  than  the  Mayflower,  with  no  les  •,  precious 

o"  Pk":"^  'fT"'  '"  "^''  '■■••'^■^■'  ■••"°"'-  ^hip  sailed  ou 
of    PI)  mouth  harbor.      Before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims 

the  coasts  of  Massachusetts  Bay  were  famUiar  to  Ihe  we"t  o^ 


KNSIGN    JOHN    SIIKI.DOX.  185 


clrded  a  full  exchange,  but  were  virtually  a  treaty  of  peace 
between  the  French  and  English  in  America,  with  the  stip- 
ulation however,  that  "if  not  signed  by  the  governors  of  Bos- 
ton, New  York  and  all  other  special  English  governors  be- 
fore the  end  of  February,  the  articles  should  be  null  and 
void."  The  articles  were  rejected  by  the  assembly  and 
council  at  Boston,  as  not  "consistent  with  her  majesty's  hon- 
or," and  with  thanks  to  Dudley  for  his  past  endeavors,  it 
was  left  to  him,  upon  advice  with  Lord  Cornbury,  to  answer 
De  Vaudreuil.  To  avoid  their  subsistence  during  the  win- 
ter, and  to  set  an  example  of  generosity,  Dudley  early  in 
December,  sent  home  fifty-seven  Port  Royal  captives,  re- 
taining Baptiste  and  others  of  importance. 

On  the  17th  of  January,  1706,  the  governor  read  to  his 
council  his  answer  to  De  Vaudreuil's  proposals,  "to  be  des- 
patched to  Quebec  by  Mr,  John  Slvldon,  attended  with  a 
servant  or  two,  and  accompanied  by  two  French  pris. ners 
of  war." 

Mr.  Sheldon  now  appears  upon  the  stage  as  a  full  fledged 
ambassador.  His  attendants  were  John  Wells  and  Joseph 
Bradley,  a  Haverhill  man,  whose  wife  was  languishing  in 
her  second  captivity.  They  left  Deerfield  on  the  25th  of 
January,  taking  the  same  route  as  before,  another  dreary 
winter  journey.  They  arrived  at  Quebec  in  the  beginning 
of  March.  Mr.  Williams  went  up  again  for  a  few  days  to 
see  Mr.  Sheldon,  and  doubtless  told  him  with  indignation, 
the  vigorous  efforts  of  the  priests  to  gain  proselytes  after 
Mr.  Dudley's  departure.  "When  Mr.  vSheldon  came  the  sec- 
ond time,"  says  Mr.  Williams,  "the  adversaries  did  what 
they  could  to  retard  the  time  of  our  return,  to  gain  time  to 
seduce  our  young  ones  to  Popery."' 

Although  the  dispatches  carried  by  Mr.  Sheldon  were  not 
satisfactory  to  De  Vaudreuil,  he  could  oppose  nothing  to  Mr. 

'"The  Redeemed  Captive,"  Sixth  Ed.,  p.  113. 


1 86 


TRUE   srORII":S   L)F   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


Sheldon's  arguments,  that  he  was  in  honor  bound  to  release 
some  captives  in  return  for  those  already  sent  home  by 
Dudley,  and  he  at  last  reluctantly  consented  to  release  for- 
ty-three.' 

Captain  Thomas  More  in  his  boat,  the  Marie,  was  to  take 
them  as  far  as  Port  Royal,  with  orders  to  the  governor  of 
Acadia  to  retain  them  there  until  "all  the  French  prisoners 
without  distinction"  should  be  returned  to  Port  Royal. 
Meantime  the  Marie  was  to  proceed  to  Boston  with  Mr.  Shel- 
don and  his  attendants,  the  two  Frenchmen  also  returning 
with  De  Vaudreuil's  ultimatum. 

The  Marie  must  have  sailed  soon  after  June  2d,  the  date 
of  the  governor's  letter.'^  vShe  evidently  stopped  at  Port 
Royal,  for  we  have  John  Sheldon's  account  there  of  his 
"pocket  expense.::  the  Doctor  for  John  Wells,"  and  "for  two 
blankets  and  other  things  for  y''  captives." 

Whether  Monsieur  de  Brouillant  assumed  the  responsibil- 
ity of  forwarding  the  captives  with  Mr.  »Sheldon,  or  how  it 
was,  we  know  not,  but  there  is  evidence  enough  that  they 
arriv^ed  with  him  in  the  Marie  at  Boston  on  the  first  day  of 
August.  Mr.  Williams,  writing  after  his  own  redemption 
and  before  Mr.  Sheldon's  third  expedition,  s^ys,  "The  last 
who  came,  in  numbers  between  forty  and  nfty,  with  Mr. 
Sheldon  (a  good  man  and  a  true  servant  of  the  church  in 
Deerfield,  who  twice  took  his  tedious  and  dangerous  journey 
in  the  winter  from  New  England  unto  Canada  on  these  oc- 
casions), came  aboard  at  Quebec,  May  30th,  and  after  nine 
weeks'  difficult  passage,  arrived  at  Boston,  August  ist,  1706." 
On  the  2d,  Dudley  informed  his  council  of  the  letters  "re- 
ceived yesterday,  from  the  Governor  of  Canada  by  a  Flagg 
of  Truce  with  forty  odd  English  prisoners."     Who  were  the 

'Letter  from  De  Vaudreuil  to  Dudley  dated  Quebec,  June  2,  1706,     B.  P_ 
Poore  Coll.  Vol.  5,  p.  295. 

'The  New  Style  had  already  been  adopted  in  Canada. 


ENSKJN   JOHN    SHELDON.  187 


forty  odd  we  know  not.  Sheldon's  daughter  Marv  was  one; 
James  Adams,  another.  Mr.  Williams  was  still  in  Chateau- 
Richer,  and  the  intendant  threatened  "if  More  broiio-ht  word 
that  Hattis  was  in  prison,  he  would  put  him  in  prison  and 
lay  him  in  irons." 

De  Vaudreuil's  letter  also  threatened  reprisals  if  the  Marie 
did  not  carry  back  tidings  of  Baptiste's  release.  One  clause 
of  this  letter  shows  John  Sheldon  as  an  honest  government 
official :  "I  have  done  myself  the  pleasure  to  honor  the  letter 
of  credit  you  have  given  to  Mr.  Sheldon  upon  me.  He  has 
used  it^  very  modestly,  and  has  demanded  of  me  only  750 
Livres."  Mr.  Sheldon's  account  shows  how  the  money  was 
expended.  His  landlords  at  Quebec  and  Montreal  got  a 
good  part  of  it.  The  destitute  captives  were  clothed;  other 
interesting  items  are:  "For  a  carriall'  to  goe  to  see  the  cap- 
tives at  the  Mohawk  fort."  "For  a  canoe  and  men  to  go 
from  Quebec  to  visit  Mr.  Williams."  "More  paid  to  y"  Bar- 
bour for  me  and  my  men  and  for  my  Blooting."  "Laid  out 
for  my  deaughter  Mary  for  neces-ary  cloathing."  "More  for 
my  darter." 

Mr.  Sheldon's  account  being  allowed,  Wells  and  Bradley 
petitioned  to  be  reimbursed  for  sundry  expenditures,  "snow- 
shoes  and  pumps,"  "a  dog  15  shillings,"  and  "besides  there 
was  a  gun  hired  for  the  voyage,  which  said  gun  was  broken 
in  the  discharging."  Thirty-five  pounds  were  voted  to  Mr. 
Sheldon,  and  twenty  pounds  each  to  the  others  for  their  ser- 
vices, over  and  above  their  outfit.  While  Mr.  Sheldon  was 
settling  his  affairs  in  Boston,  young  John  Sheldon  wrote  him 
as  follows : — 

"Honored  Father  Sheldon  :— After  duty  presented,  these  are 
to  let  you  noe  that  I  reseived  your  letter,  which  we  desire  to  bless 
you  for  it.     pray  give  my  love  with   my  wife's  to  sister  Mary  and 

'Carriole.     A  Canadian  sleigh. 


1 88  TRUE    STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


all    the    rest  of   the  captives I  pray  you    to    buy  for    me  a 

paire  of  curtings  and  a  feather  bead,  and  a  greaine  coverlid  and  a 
necklace  of  amber." 

No  doubt  these  commissions  were  faithfully  executed,  and 
the  "Old  Indian  House"  was  soon  gladdened  by  the  return 
of  its  master,  and  another  of  the  long-sundered  household. 

A  week  after  the  arrival  of  the  Marie  at  Boston,  the  coun- 
cil advised  Dudley  to  reject  the  proposals  brought  by  her, 
and  "yet  send  away  the  French  prisoners  without  exception 
to  Port  Royal  and  Quebec  and  demand  ours  in  return,  and 
to  send  a  vessel  forthwith  to  Quebec  in  hopes  of  seeing  them 
before  winter." 

Captain  Bonner  and  his  vessel  were  hired  ;  Mr.  Samuel 
Appleton  of  the  council  was  appointed  as  bearer  of  dispatch- 
es ;  and  towards  the  last  of  the  month  the  brigantine  Hope, 
auspicious  name  in  such  a  service,  convoyed  the  Marie  with 
Baptiste,  and  all  but  one  of  the  French  prisoners  out  of  Bo.s- 
ton  harbor.  Narrowly  escaping  shipwreck,  they  reached 
Quebec  about  the  first  of  October.  Mr.  Appleton  appears  to 
have  made  himself  pretty  comfortable  while  the  negotiations 
were  pending,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  tavern  bill,  on  which 
I  find  beef  and  mutton  a  plenty,  with  ducks,  broiled  chickens 
and  according  to  the  fashion  of  that  day,  many  bottles  of 
eau  de  vie}  There  being  no  longer  any  excuse  for  retaining 
Mr.  Williams,  he  and  fifty-six  others,  among  whom  were  his 
two  sons  and  probably  Sheldon's,  came  home  with  Mr.  Ap- 
pleton. 

Mr.  Williams  sayi.  they  left  Quebec  the  25th  of  October, 
but  I  find  by  the  inn-keeper's  bill  that  Samuel  joined  his  fa- 
ther and  Warham  there  on  the  28th;  that  one  of  the  boys 
was  charged  for  breaking  a  glass  on  the  29th,  and  the  board 
of  the  three  is  charged  up  to  the  31st,  so  that  unless  their 

'Mass.  Archives,  Voi.  71,  p.  248. 


mm^t^mmmm^m^^^^,^^ 


P:NSIGN   JOHN   SHELDON.  igp 


landlord  was  unusually  rapacious  we  must  take  this  as  the 
day  of  their  departure.  After  a  stormy  passa^^e,  they  reached 
Boston  on  Nov.  21st,  and  were  imme  liately  sent  for  by 
the  general  court,  then  in  session,  where  their'pitiful  appear- 
ance excited  such  commiseration  that  it  was  at  once  "Re- 
solved that  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings  be  allowed  and  paid 
out  of  the  Publick  Treasury  to  each  of  the  captives  this  day 
returned  from  Canada."  On  Appleton's  account,  presented 
after  his  return,  is  the  following  item  which  must  have  made 
him  doubly  welcome  to  good  Mr.  Williams:  "5  English 
Bibles,  which  Capt.  Appleton  carryed  with  him  by  order 
of  y''  governor  and  council  and  given  to  the  captives  ->  £ 
13  s.  6  d." 

On  his  return  to  Deerfield  aftjr  his  second  expedition, 
John  Sheldon  entered  again  upon  the  town  business.  With- 
in ten  days  after  Mr.  Williams  landed  in  Boston,  he  was 
"chosen  a  committee  to  go  down  to  the  Bay  to  treat  with  Mr. 
Williams  about  returning  to  settle  in  Deerfield."  I  know 
not  whether  to  admire  more,  the  energy  and  courage  of  the 
people,  or  the  fidelity  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  pastor,  in  their 
action  in  this  matter. 

Early  in  1707,  by  a  vote  of  the  town  to  build  a  house  for 
the  minister  "as  big  as  Ensign  Sheldon's  with  a  lean-to  as 
big  as  may  be  thought  convenient,"  he  was  chosen  on  the 
building  committee.  But  his  country  again  needed  his  ser- 
vices,  and  he  was  not  permitted  to  remain  long  with  his  re- 
united family.  On  the  14th  of  January,  Gov.  Dudley  in- 
formed his  council  that  there  were  about  ninety  English  still 
held  by  the  French  and  Indians  of  Canada,  whom  the  gov- 
ernor had  promised  to  return  the  coming  spring,  and  pro- 
posed to  have  "a  Person  Leger  at  Quebec,  to  put  forward 
that  affair,  and  endeavor  that  all  be  sent,  and  that  Mr.  John 
Sheldon  who  has  been  twice  already,  may  be  employed  with 
a  suitable  retinue  to  undertake  a  journey  thither,  on  tha: 


IWMfc'fmiiTfirBtiiiaBiii  tj  i 


190  IkllK    STOklKS    OV    NKW    KNT.I.ANF)    CAI' II V  KS. 

service,  if  the  season  will  permit."  /\s  we  have  already  seen, 
John  Shelijon  was  not  one  to  permit  the  season  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  his  servi'ij.^  the  state.  Aeeordinj^ly,  he  left  Deer- 
(ield  on  llu'  i/tli  of  April,  .attended  by  ICdward  Allen,  Na- 
thaniel iirooks,'  and  ICdmiind  Riee.  We  have  a  hint  <>l  how 
it  fared  with  him  on  his  noithward  march,  in  this  item  fiom 
Ids  acconnt  book:  "Paid  six  livres  to  tan  Indian  to  j^nitU;  ns 
into  the  way  wiien  bewildered."  Mr.  Sheldon  was  in  i^reat- 
dan^ei"  dnrin^'  this  last  journey  to  Canada,  and  his  sojourn 
there,  'idle  l''rencli  wei'e  exasperated  b\'  rumoi-s  of  another 
ijivasion  from  New  ICnj^land,  and  the  woods  were  full  of 
small  |)arties  of  Indians,  on  the  war-path  to  the  l)order  set- 
tlements. 

He  arrived  the  nth  of  May.  His  reception  there  was  n(jt 
the  most  courteous,  as  we  learn  by  this  letter  from  the  court 
of  V'ersailU.'S  to  tht;  j^-overnor  of  Canada:  "His  Majesty  ap- 
proves of  your  having-  spoken  as  you  did  to  the  man  named 
!-)cheldin,  wliom  that  (iovernor  (Dudley)  sent  )'ou  by  land,  in 
search  of  the  ICn-^lish  prisoners  at  Ouebec,  and  even  if  you 
had  had  him  i)ut  in  prison  with  all  his  suite,  it  would  have 
l)een  no  j^reat  matter."-'  I'^rom  Montreal,  Mr.  Sheldon  wrote 
on  the  jolli  of  June,  that  the  I'reneh  were  colleetinji^  forces 
there,  beinj^  alarmed  by  the  report  of  an  ;ii)proaehin^  l^^ii^- 
lish  lleet.  He  was  not  permitted  to  return  until  this  excite- 
ment had  subsided.  In  mid-summer,  escorted  by  six  soldiers 
under  Monsieur  de  Chambly,''  who  had  .secret  orders  to  ac- 
(juaint  himself  with  the  condition  of  things  at  Oranj^^e,  he 
with  seven  more  captives,  came  down  Lake  Champlain  in 
canoes,  arriving;-  at  Albany  on  the  24th  of  August.     To  Mr. 

'Ih;  w<;r)l  to  S(;ek  his  dauKliter,  captured  F'el).  2g,  I7(j3-4. 

'^Leiter  fioiii  the  I'lench  Minister  to  De  Vaudreull,  June  <j,  1708.     Doc.  pub. 
iyueljcc.  Vol.  11,  p.  488. 

•'Brother  of  Hertel  De  Rouville. 


KNSI(;N    JOHN    SIIKI.DON. 


191 


Sheldon's  rinnoyance,  his  escort  were  held  as  prisoners  dur- 
inj^  their  stay  in  Albany,  by  Col.  Sehuyler,  who  knew  from 
friendly  Indians  in  Canada  the  hostile  attitnde  of  alTairs 
there,  and  he  was  sent  with  theni  down  to  Lord  Cornbury  at 
New  York.  'IMience  by  S.'iybn»<»k.  M<;w  London  and  Ston- 
inj^ton,  now  on  horseback  and  now  on  foot,  the  captives  came 
slowly  home,  and  on  the  iStu  of  September,  John  Sheldon 
was  in  Boston  ;ind  delivered  his  desj)atehes  to  the  jj^overnor 
in  council,  and  ^ave  a  narrative  of  his  nej^otiations. 

In  October,  Mr.  Sheldon  is  aji^ain  in  Deerlield,  where  he  is 
appointed  to  manaj^e  for  the  town  as  a  i)etitioner  to  the  Gen- 
eral Court  for  help  towards  Mr.  Williams's  salary.  His  name 
appears  onee  more  on  xhe  (General  Court  records  in  Novem- 
ber, 1707,  on  two  petitions  for  aid  in  consideiation  of  his  own 
losses,  and  for  his  .services  and  tliose  of  his  attendants  in  his 
last  journey,  "in  which  they  endured  much  fati;j;-ue  and  hard- 
ship and  ])assed  throuj^h  jj;reat  dan^^er,  sustaininj^"  also  con- 
siderable damage  by  their  absence  from  their  liusinesse." 
In  answer,  lie  was  j^^iven  fifty  ])ounds  for  his  services,  thir- 
teen of  which  was  to  be  paid  him  by  a  mulatto  whom  he 
had  brouj^ht  out  of  bontla^e,  :ind  a  j^rant  of  three  hundred 
acres,  not  to  exceed  fcjrty  acres  of  meadow  land,  was  made 
him. 

Shortly  after  this  he  removed  to  Hartford,  where,  in  1708, 
he  had  married  a  second  time.  In  1726,  "beinj^  weak  in 
body,  yet  throuj^h  (lod's  i^otxlness  to  me,  of  sound  mind 
and  memory,"  he  made  his  will,  and  died  in  1734,  at  the  agfe 
of  .seventy-six. 

We  need  not  search  the  rolls  of  heraldry  for  the  pedigree 
of  old  John  Sheldon.  We  have  found  him  a  brave  man,  and 
a  good  citizen,  a  tender  husl)and  and  a  lovinj^  father,  true 
and  faithful  in  all  his  private  relations  and  public  positions, 
a  pillar  of  the  church  and  state.     What  more  need  we  ask? 

The   j^reat   Archbishop  Sheldon   used  to  say  to  the  young 


192  TRUE    STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


lords  who  sought  his  advice :  "Be  honest  and  moral  men. 
Do  well  and  rejoice."  John  Sheldon  was  both.  He  did  well, 
and  his  descendants  may  rejoice. 


■:r-- -,;;-r,"^-     .^^#j 


» 


MY    HUNT    FOR    THE    CAPTIVES. 


There  have  been  moie  noteworthy  journeys  to  Canada 
than  that  whose  fruits  are  gathered  here. 

There  is  that  one  abounding-  in  thrilling  experiences,  from 
which  Benjamin  Waite  and  Stephen  Jennings  returned  tri- 
umphant to  Hatfield, 

Many  others,  endured  perforce  ^y  our  captive  ancestors 
with  a  fortitude  never  to  be  forgot  ;n  ;  and  equally  memor- 
able those  undertaken  for  their  redemption. 

Rev.  John  Williams  thus  writes  of  the  most  notable  of 
these  :  "Mr.  Sheldon,  a  <jood  man  and  a  true  servant  of  the 
church  in  Deerfield,  twice  took  hi.-,  tedious  and  dangerous 
journey  in  the  winter,  from  New  England  into  Canada  on 
these  occasions."'  Though,  with  the  Redeemed  Captive,  J 
have  "blessed  God  that  deliverance  was  brought  for  so  many," 
the  number  left  behind  could  not  be  forgotten.  As  often 
as  I  have  read  in  our  annals  the  pathetic  story,  "taken  cap- 
tive to  Canada,  whence  they  came  not  back,"  I  have  longed 
to  know  their  fate.  The  longing  has  become  a  purpose,  and 
I  have  taken  upon  myself  a  mission  to  open  the  door  for  the 
return  of  the  long-lost  captives.  I  doubt  if  Deacon  Sheldon 
himself  was  thought  so  demented,  when  he  announced  his 

'Mr.  Sheldon  went  three  times  to  Canada  for  the  captives. 


194  TkUK    STOKIKS   OF    NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


intention  of  going-  to  Canada  in  mid-winter  to  demand  the 
release  of  his  kinsfolk  and  neighbors,  as  I  was,  when  I  made 
known  my  purpose,  to  go  to  Montreal  in  December. 

So  with  that  apparent  vacillation  which  often  cloaks  our 
firmest  resolutions,  I  bought  my  tickets  with  the  privilege 
of  returning  them,  in  case  of  a  heavy  snow  storm  on  the  day 
of  departure  The  day  and  the  storm  arrived  together,  but 
I  had  set  my  hand  to  the  plough,  and  even  if  it  should  prove 
a  snow  plough,  there  was  no  turning  back.  Two  hundred 
years  have  robbed  the  winter  journey  from  New  England  to 
New  France  of  all  its  tedium  and  danger,  and  one  needs  all 
the  reflected  glory  of  his  heroic  ancestry,  to  reconcile  him 
to  the  ignoble  ease  with  which  it  is  performed. 

After  two  days  of  fruitless  search  for  the  trail  of  our  cap- 
tives, I  had  begun  to  despair,  when  chance  led  me  to  the 
rooms  of  the  Natural  History  Society.  There,  by  a  rare  good 
fortune,  I  found  a  remarkable  collection  of  the  Old  Regime, 
— priceless  treasures,  hitherto  guarded  jealously  in  the  home, 
the  convent  or  the  church,  now,  for  the  first  time,  and  prob- 
ably the  last,  by  the  energy  of  the  Numismatic  and  Anti- 
quarian Society  of  Montreal,  brought  together  for  a  week's 
exhibition.  This  alone  would  have  repaid  me  for  my  jour- 
ney. There  were  portraits  of  Wolfe  and  Montcalm,  and  sil- 
ver mugs  once  owned  by  the  latter.  There  were  Champlain's 
autograph,  and  the  patent  of  nobility  conferred  upon  Franyois 
Hertel  and  his  posterity.  Here  I  stood,  face  to  face,  with 
the  illustrious  founders  of  New  France — soldiers,  nuns,  mis- 
sion prie.sts,  Intendants,  Governor-Generals,  heroic  martyrs, 
gallant  captains  and  faithful  viceroys  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
frank,  sensible,  practical,  womanly  and  warm-hearted  Mar- 
guerite Bourgeois;  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  the  ardent  and  sin- 
cere, albeit  romantic  and  sensational  enthusiast ;  Pore  Jogues, 
the  refined,  scholarly  and  pious  missionary,  with  his  poor, 
mutilated  hands,  and  his  deeply-lined  face;  timid,  humble, 


mtm 


MY    HUNT   FOR   THE   CAPTIVES. 


'95 


self-distrusting,  meek  and  patient  as  a  lamb  under  Indian  tor- 
ture, bold  as  a  lion  in  defence  of  his  faith.     Laval,  the  high- 
born  prelate,    stubborn   fighter  for  the    supremacy  of  the 
church;  Talon,  the  intendant,  sagacious,  alert,  whose  deli- 
cate face  gives  no  hint  of  his  energetic  character ;  Charle- 
voix, cotemporary  and   historian  of   them  all.     Here   were 
Boucher  and  d'Ailleboust,  representatives  of  the  old  tiohhssc, 
and  de  Montigny,  greatest  of  Canadian  warriors;  the  same 
to  whom  Esther  Jones  and  Margaret  Huggins  and  poor  little 
Elisha  Searle,  may  have  appealed  for  mercy  for  their  kins- 
folk slain  at  Pascommuck.     And  here  were  the  Hertel  broth- 
ers, faces  all  too  familiar  to  our  Deerfield  captives,  handsome 
and  noble  faces,  nevertheless.     These  were  the  features  first 
revealed  to  our  woe-begone  ancestry,  in  the  light  of  their 
burning  homes,  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago.     This  deco- 
ration may  have  been  De  Rouville's  reward  for  his  success- 
ful attack  on  Deerfield.     Those  very  eyes  must  have  beamed 
gratefully  upon  Mary  Baldwin  Catlin,  as  she  tenderly  raised 
the  head  and  moistened  the  fevered  lips  of  the  wounded 
French  youth.     This  thought  was  an  inspiration.     An  hour 
later  I  found  myself  on  a  bench  in  the  church  vestry,  with  a 
crowd  of  old  women,  anxious  for  confession,  awaiting  my 
turn  to  speak  with  the  Cure  of  Notre  Dame.     At  four  o'clock 
when  the  early  sunset  of  that  northern  latitude  overtook  me, 
one  might  have  seen  me  perched    upon  a  high  stool,  at  a 
grated  window,  straining  my  eyes  over  the  ancient  record, 
and  translating  letter  by  letter  from  the  old  French,  the  fol- 
lowing, in  the  hand-writing  of  Father  Meriel : 

"On  Monday,  the  21st  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1705,  the 
rites  of  baptism  were  by  me,  the  undersigned  priest,  administered 
in  the  chapel  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation,  with  the  permission 
of  Monsieur  Franyois  le  Vachon  de  Belmont,  Grand  Vicar  of  my 
Lord,  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  to  Samuel  Williams,  upon  his  abjura. 
tion  of  the  Lidependent  religion  ;  who,  born  at  Dearfielde  in  New 


196  TRUE   STURIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


England,  the  24th  of  Jan.  O.  S.  [3d  of  Feb.  ]  of  the  year  1690,  of  the 
marriage  of  Mr.  John  Williams,  minister  of  the  said  place,  and  his 
wife  Eunice  Mather,  having  been  taken  the  29th  of  Feb.  O.  S.  [nth 
of  March]  of  the  year  1704,  and  brought  to  Canada,  lives  with  Mr. 
Jacques  Le  Ber,  Esquire,  Sieur  de  Senneville.  His  godfather  was 
Jacques  Le  Ber.  His  godmother  Marguerite  Duat,  wife  of  Antoine 
Pascaud,  merchant,  who  have  signed  with  me." 

Then  follow  the  si<^natures  of  Senneville,  Marguerite  Bouat 
Pascaud  and  the  unformed  and  tremulous  autograph  of  Sam- 
uel himself.  Dear  lad  !  On  this  very  spot  he  was  sent  to 
school,  to  learn  to  read  and  write  French.  The  schoolmas- 
ter sometimes  "flattered  him  with  promises,  if  he  would  cross 
himself,  then  threatened  him  if  he  would  not;"  and  finding 
promises  and  threats  ineffectual,  he  "struck  him  with  a  cruel 
whip,  and  made  him  get  down  on  his  knt  es  for  an  hour." 
For  weeks,  this  went  on,  till  at  last,  after  many  tears,  "through 
cowardice  and  fear  of  the  whip,"  says  his  stern,  old  Puritan 
father,  "he  was  first  brought  to  cross  himself."  From  this 
to  abjuration  and  baptism,  was  a  natural  step.  Two  days 
after  his  baptism,  he  wrote  to  his  father  in  Quebec  a  strange 
letter,  filled  with  accotints  of  the  conversion  of  his  fellow- 
captives  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  not  one  word 
of  himself.  "When  I  had  this  letter,"  says  the  heart-broken 
father,  "I  presently  knew  it  to  be  of  Mr.  Meriel's  composing, 
but  the  messenger  who  brought  it,  brought  word  that  my 
son  had  embraced  their  religion.  The  news  was  ready  to 
overwhelm  me  with  grief  and  sorrow — anguish  took  hold 
upon  me.  I  asked  God  to  direct  me  what  to  do,  and  how  to 
write,  and  to  find  an  opportunity  of  conveying  a  letter  to 
him."  That  letter,  and  Samuel's  answer,  may  be  read  in 
"The  Redeemed  Captive." 

Far  into  the  twilight  I  sat  there,  spellbound  by  the  old 
manuscript.  How'  many  tales  it  unfolded.  True  stories  of 
real  folks,  far  tran.scending  in  interest,  any  wonder  book  of 


DKIf'-IW^Mt"*-— "T— -^  ■"■t."'  -ij^fW*"*  -wSOWMiTi^ 


MY    HUNT   FOR   THE   CAPTIVES.  197 


fiction.  I  pictured  the  fourteen  years  old  boy  in  the  house 
of  his  so-called  master.  It  was,  doubtless,  one  of  the  best 
in  the  town,  for  Jacques  Le  Ber,  shopkeeper  at  Montreal, 
had  by  industry  and  thrift  made  himself  a  fortune,  and  am- 
bitious for  his  children  had  "got  himself  made  a  gentleman 

for  6000  hvres, so  far  had  noblesse  already  fallen  from  its 

old  estate."' 

_  Though  Jacques  Le  Ber  was  the  possessor  of  riches  and  a 
title,— though  it  pleased  him  to  be  called  Eeiiyer  or  Esquire 
and  to  sign  himself  Seigneur  de  Senneville,  he  had  had  sore 
disappointment.     His  wife  had  died.     His  eldest  daughter 
his  favorite  child,  instead  of  helping  him,  in  the  care  of  the 
younger  children,  had  shut  herself  up  at  twenty-two,  in  her 
chamber,  where  for  ten   vears  she  sat  embroidering  altar 
cloths  and  vestments,  r-       .ng  to  see  any  one  but  her  con- 
fessor, and  the  girl  who  urought  her  food.     An  odor  of  sanc- 
tity must  have  pervaded  the  house  of  Jacques  Le  Ber,  and 
Samuel   probably  heard  from  her  own  sisters  t!:-  story  of 
Jeanne  Le  Ber.     Ten  years  before  he  became  an  inmate  of 
the  family,  she  had  retired  to  a  cell  which  had  been  built  for 
her  behind  the  altar,  in  the  new  chapel  of  the  nuns  of  the 
Congregation ;  and  the  boy  and  his  master  must  both  have 
thought  of  the  family  saint,  so  near  and  yet  so  far,  as  they 
stood  by  the  altar  when  Samuel  was  baptized.     It  was  kind 
in  Jacques  Le  Ber  to  burden  his  household  with  the  boy  and 
Samuel  felt  it ;  for  he  tells  his  father,  in  excuse  for  his  con- 
version, that  they  told  him  (perhaps  Le  Ber's  own  children) 
that  he  had  never  been  bought  from  the  Indians,  but  was' 
only  sojourning  in  Montreal,  and  that  if  he  would  not  turn 
he  should  be  given  back  to  the  savages,  but  that  if  he  would 
he  should  never  be  put  into  their  hands  any  more.^ 

I  wondered  as  I  sat  there  putting  the  two  ends  of  the  story 

'Parkman.     Old  Regime,  p.  256. 

'"The  Redeemed  Captive,"  p.  77.     Edition  of  MDCCC, 


198  TRUE   STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


together,  whether  it  was  all  so  dreadful  to  the  boy  as  it  seems 
to  us.  Whether,  as  he  waded  from  Jacques  Le  Ber's  house 
to  school,  through  that  Canadian  winter,  he  was  ever  gay 
and  merry  like  other  boys,  and  snowballed  and  frolicked  on 
his  snow-shoes.  Or  whether  the  thought  of  his  mother  slain, 
his  father  far  away,  his  brothers  and  sisters  scattered  he 
knew  not  where,  haunted  him  day  and  night.  The  priests 
spent  whole  days  urging  him  to  renounce  his  father's  re- 
ligion. To  rescue  from  heresy  the  child  of  the  Puritan 
preacher,  was  an  object  worth  their  labor,  and  they  spared 
no  pains  nor  argument  to  that  end.  When  at  last  the  ship 
came  to  take  him  home,  they  tried  to  frighten  him  with  tales 
of  shipwreck,  and  threats  of  eternal  damnation.  They  told 
him  if  he  would  stay,  the  king  would  grant  him  a  pension, 
and  that  his  master,  an  old  man  and  the  richest  in  Canada, 
would  give  him  a  great  deal  of  money ;  but  that  in  New 
England  he  would  be  poor  and  homeless.  It  is  a  relief  to 
remember  that  neither  promise  of  preferment,  nor  the  fear 
of  poverty  on  earth  and  of  hell  hereafter,  could  keep  him 
from  home  and  native  land. 

When  I  w^alked  back  to  my  hotel,  the  stars  were  shining. 
The  Montreal  of  to-day  had  vanished,  and  men,  women  and 
children  from  the  Deerfield  of  1 704,  thronged  the  snowbound 
streets  of  the  old  French  town.  Ville-Marie  de  Mont-Real— 
what  legend  of  the  age  of  chivalry  equals  the  romance  of 
thy  true  history  !  The  most  brilliant  conception  of  the 
imagination  pales  before  the  simple  recital  of  the  exploits  of 
thy  crusaders. 

To  all  readers  of  "The  Redeemed  Captive"  the  name  of 
Father  Meriel  is  as  familiar  as  that  of  Parson  Williams  him- 
self. For  the  next  two  days  I  followed  his  steps  in  the  old 
records  as  he  went  in  and  out  among  the  captives.  On  the 
triumphant  return  of  De  Rouville  from  Deerfield,  the  vSeign- 
eur  de  Montigny,  whom  I  have  already  mentioned  as  the 


MV    HUNT    FOR    THE    tAl'TIVKS.  igg 


^n-eatest  warrior  of  New  France,  was  sent  to  the  Connecticut 
valley  with  a  party  of  French  and  Indians.  Montigny  at- 
tacked Pasconimuck,  a  little  hamlet  of  Northampton,  occu- 
pied by  five  families,  and  known  also  as  Northampton  Farms. 
The  Hampshire  record  is  as  follows : 

"May  12  |i3|  Pascomok  Kort  taken  by  ye  French  and  Indians 
l)enig  about  72.  Tlicy  took,  and  Captivated  ye  whole  Garrison  be- 
ing about  37  Persons.  The  English  Pi.rsueingof  them  caused  them 
to  nock  all  the  captives  on  the  ii^d,  Save  5  or  6.  Three  they  ear- 
ned to  Canada  with  them  ;  the  others  escap'd  and  about  7  of  those 
knocked  on  the  Head  Recovered,  ye  Rest  died." 

Those  carried  to  Canada  were  Esther  Inghesson,  [Ing-ersol] 
wife  of  Benoni  Jones:  Margaret  Huggins,  her  niece,  aged 
eighteen,  and  Elisha  vSearle,  a  little  boy  of  eight. 

Imagine  the  emotions  with  which  I  read  the  Canadian  ac- 
count of  the  Pascommuck  story.  It  is  so  strange  to  find  the 
homely  names  of  "nn />r//t  A/^o/o/sr  or  -unc petite  Ani^r/oiser 
and  their  fathers  and  mothers,  old-time  friends  and  neigh- 
bors of  our  own  ancestry,  done  into  French  in  Father  Meriel's 
beautiful  hand-writing  as  bright  and  clear  to-day  as  if  fresh 
from  his  pen.  Stranger  still  it  is  to  see  them  coupled  with 
names  of  warriors  and  courtiers,  who  not  only  figure  brill- 
iantly in  the  annals  of  New  France,  but  who  once  shared  at 
Fontamebleau,  the  pleasures  of  the  corrupt  and  splendid 
court  of  Louis  XIV.,  who  may  have  seen  the  rise  and  fall  of 
the  LaValliC're  and  the  Montespan,— and  have  lounged  in  the 
ante-chambers  of  Madame  de  Maintenon. 

The  old  record  reads  like  a  novel,  it  is  all  so  vivid.  In- 
stinctively I  hold  out  my  arms  and  whisper,  "Don't  be  afraid  " 
to  the  little  Elisha  Searle  as  I  see  him  there,  in  his  blue 
checked  apron  and  shabby  homespun,  just  as  he  was  snatched 
from  his  mother's  side.  He  stands  there  ready  to  burst  into 
tears,  clinging  tight  to  the  hand  of  Jean  Baptiste  Celeron  de 
Blainville,  with  whom  he  lives.     How  he  shrinks  from  the 


200  TRUK    STORIKS    OK    N'KW    KNCIANI)    CAPTIVES. 


priest  and  the  baptismal  water,  and  turns  half  trustfully  to- 
wards Dame  Marie  Anne  T.eAIoyne  de  Chassai}2^ne,  his  god- 
mother. It  is  all  over  now,  and  this  is  our  last  sijj^ht  of  little 
Elisha,  or  h^lisre,  as  the  Freneh  have  it.  His  god-father,  the 
Sieur  de  Hlainville,  has  taken  away  the  name  j>iven  him  by 
good  Parson  Stoddard,  and  when  we  meet  him  again,  if  we 
ever  do  mee',  him,  it  will  be  as  Miehel  Searls.  A  year  later, 
Margaret  Huggins  is  baptized.  I'^ither  Meriel  tells  us  that 
she  was  the  daughter  of  John  Huggins  and  I<>xperienee  Jones, 
born  at  vStony  Hrook  in  i6S6,  and  baptized  at  vSpringfield  four 
months  later;  that  she  was  taken  by  the  Abenac(uis  at  Pas- 
eommuek,  near  Northampton,  and  earried  by  the  Indians  to 
St.  Franeis.  From  them  she  was  bought  by  that  illustrious 
exile,  the  Marquis  de  Crisafy,  governor  of  Three  Rivers, 
with  whom  she  lived  until  August,  1 706,  when  .she  was  brought 
to  Montreal,  Her  sponsors  were  Monsieur  T^tienne  Robert 
and  Marguerite  Bouat,  who  seem  to  have  been  as  zealous  in 
the  eonversion  of  heretics  as  l^ither  Meriel.  I  doubt  not 
that  her  name  re-appears  later,  where  laek  of  time  forbade 
me  to  look  for  her. 

My  next  find  was  the  story  of  l*}sther  Jones,  as  Father  Mer- 
iel wrote  it  out  for  vSamuel  Williams  to  eopy  and  send  it  to 
his  father.  Between  the  lines  it  is  easy  to  read  the  prolonged 
agony  of  that  first  year  of  captivity,  ending  for  this  poor 
woman  in  weeks  of  sickness  in  the  hospital.  There,  "dis- 
tempered with  a  very  high  fever,  if  not  distracted,"  as  Mr. 
Williams  says,  on  their  death  beds,  scarcely  conscious  of 
their  acts,  and  "at  first  disdaining,"  she  and  Abigail  Turbot 
yielded  to  the  threats  of  the  priests  and  the  importunities  of 
the  nuns  who  took  care  of  them,  and,  confessing  the  sins  of 
their  whole  lives,  abjured  Protestantism,  received  extreme 
imction,  died  and  were  "honorably  buried  side  by  side,  in 
the  church-yard  next  the  church,"  "close  to  the  body  of  the 
Justice  Pese's  w-ife,"  writes  vSamuel,  "all    the  people  being 


^ 


mmmmmmmm 


M\  HUNT  rok   iiiK  cAi'irvKs.  201 

present."     What  a  picture  these  few  lines  recall.     The  beau- 
ty of  that  spring  nij^^ht  on  Northamp^cju  meadows;  the  still- 
ness broken  l>y  the  horrid  war-whoop;  the  terror  of  those 
five  families;  the  flaminy^  farm-houses;  the  ilight  with  the 
prisoners;  the  brave  pursuit  and  the  merciless  slaughter; 
the  three  desolate  ones,  marching  on  to  unending  captivity; 
the  meeting  with  some  of  their  Deerfield  friends  in  the  In- 
dian camp  at  Coos  ;  the  arrival  in  Canada  ;  their  separation  ; 
the  year  of  illness  ending  with  the  hospital,  where   Esther 
Jones  finds  her  cousin,  Abigail  Turbot,  who  had  been  taken 
at  Cape  Porpoise,  Me.;'  ^inally,  that  gloomy  vSunday  after- 
noon in  December,  when  both  sufferers  lay  spent  with  the 
struggle,  life  ebbing  fast  from  their  fever-racked  frames; 
grey-robed  nuns  Hitting  s<jftly  back  and  forth  between  them;' 
black-gowned  priests  reiterating  in  low  tones  alternate  threat: 
and  promise,  their  efforts  at  last  successful ;  Father  Meriel 
pressing  forward  with  extreme  unction   for  the  penitents  ; 
Samuel  Williams  and  other  English  prisoners  "looking  on! 
awestruck  at  the  scene  ;  Madam  Grizalem,  as  they  call  Chris- 
tine Otis's  mother,  whose  captivity  has  had  a  happier  end- 
ing there  too,  let  us  hope  as  a  kind  mediator  between  the 
sufferers  and  their  persecutors ;  the  burial,  at  which  "all  the 
people  were  present ;"  the  captives  standing  sadly  about  the 
open  graves  and  wondering  whose  turn  would  come  next ; 
then,  earth  to  earth,  rajuicscant  in  pace ;  and  Father  Meriel 
hurries  to  the  church  vestry  to  write  down  before  it  is  quite 
dark  the  record,  which  two  hundred  years  later,  shall  be  thus 
read  by  a  descendant  of  Deerfield.     So  the  curtain  falls  on 
the  tragedy  of  Pascommuck. 

In  the  attack  on  Deerfield,  Sarah  Jeffreys,  widow  of  Thom- 
as Hurst,  and  her  six  children  were  captured.     The  young- 
est, Benjamin  or  Benoni,  was  slain  in  the  meadows.     Sarah 
eighteen,  Elizabeth,  sixteen,  Thomas,  twelve,  Hannah,  eight,' 

'Kennebunkport. 


202 


rUITK    sroKIKS    OK    NKW    KNCI.AND    CAI'TIVKS. 


Kbcne/.cr,  five,  were  carried  with  the  mother  to  Canada, 
where  they  were  j^robably  separated.  Widow  Sara,  tlie 
mother,  was  re-l)a])ti/,ed,  and  apjiears  on  the  Canadian  records 
as  Marie  Jeanne.'  IChenezer  was  l)aj)ti/-ed  l)y  I'\alher  Meriel 
t)n  vSnnday,  Di'c.  <">,  1705,  and  the  name  of  Anloine  Nicolas 
was  {>i\'en  liim  l)y  his  j^od-father.  Monsieur  Antoinc  Adhc- 
mar,  rej^isti'ar  of  the  jurisdiction  of  X'iilc-Maric.  His  l)rot]i- 
er  Tliomas  was  carried  to  the  Mission  of  Xotre  Dame  de  Lo- 
rette  and  baj^ti/ed  by  I'\'ithcr  Meriel  at  Montreal,  on  the  17th 
of  January,  1706.  We  have  heretofore  believ(.Hl  that  the  Wid- 
ow Hurst,  with  her  two  eldest  dau«4hters,  was  redeemed  and 
rettirned  to  New  Rnj^land,  I'^benezer,  Thomas,  and  Hannah 
i-eniainin<4'  in  Canada.  I  am  led  to  doubt  this  statement  in 
rejj^ard  to  lClizabi.-lh  by  the  followin;^-  extract  from  the  Mont- 
real rejj;"ister : 

"Oil  Monday,  tiic  ^d  of  ()ct()l){'r,  1712,  after  the  ])iil)lic.ati()n  of 
the  three  haniis.  1,  tiic  uii(k'rsijL>iie(|,  Si-miiiary  priest  of  Monti  d, 
witli  the  [Permission  of  Monsieur  {''raneois  de  Vauchoii,  (Irand  \  icar 
of  the  IJisliop  of  Quebec,  and  will',  tiie  imitnal  cdnsent  of  'I'lionias 
Hecraft,  weaver,  a^ed  tl)irl3'-liire'j,  son  of  Thomas  llcerafi,  deceased, 
and  of  Ills  wife;,  iCIizahelh  (lay,  of  the  Ihshopric  of  Norwich  in  i'lng- 
iand,  of  the  first  part,  and  of  Marie  ICli/abeth  Hurst,  aj^ed  twenty- 
tiiree,  dauj^hter  of  the  late  Tliomas  Murst,  and  his  wife,  Marie  Jeanne 
Jeffreys  of  Deerfieki,  in  New  l'',n,<i;lanil,  of  the  second  part,  both  now 
living  in  this  parish  of  Ville  Marie,  have  married  them  and  have 
given  them  the  nuptial  benediction  in  presence  of  Mr.  John  'IMiom- 
as,  master  shipbuilder  to  the  kiny-,  in  this  country,  and  of  l)ani(d 
Joseph  Maddo.x,  friend  of  the  groom,  of  W^illiam  I'erkins,  step- 
fatherof  the  bride,  of  Thomas  Hurst,  her  brother,  and  of  several  oth- 
ers, friends  of  both  parties,  who  have  signed  this  certifi(;ate  accord- 
ing to  law,  with  the  exception  of  Thomas  Hurst,  who  says  that  he 
cannot  sign." 

Then  follow  Thomas's  mark  and  the  autographs  of  Marie 

'See  Ilurst  fatiiily  in  "A  Day  al  Oka." 


memam 


MY    llUiNT    FOR    rilK   CAI'llVES.  203 


Franyoise  I'^rcnch,  Williriin  I'crkins,  John  'IMiomas,  Jricol) 
(lilinan,  Daniel  Joseph  Maddox,  Joseph  hiTllcL  and  Meriel 
I'ri'Lre.  As  the  age  of  the  l)ride  eorrespoiids  exactly  to  that 
of  ICIi/abeth  iliirst,  I  am  led  to  believe  that  Hannah  went 
baek  with  Sara  and  their  mother  to  N(.'W  iCns^land,  and  that 
ICli/abeth,  with  the  name  of  Marie  added  at  her  baptism, 
was  left  with  ICbenezer  and  Thomas  in  Canada,  where  she 
married  as  above.  The  Marie  l'ran(;oisc  French,  who  appears 
as  one  of  the  witnesses  at  the  weddinj^'  of  her  fiiend  iOlizabeth 
Hurst,  was  a  dauj^-hter  of  Deacon  'I'homas  l'"rench  and  his 
wife,  Mary  Catlin.  Deacon  I'rench  was  the  town  clerk  of 
Deerheld,  and  also  the  blacksmith.' 

The  deacon  and  his  children,  Mary.aj^ed  seventeen,  Thom- 
as, fourteen.  Freedom,  eleven,  Martha,  eij^ht,  and  Abigail, 
six — were  ear/tured.  His  wife  and  their  infant  John  were 
killed  on  the  retreat.  Deacon  l''rench  and  his  two  eldest  chil- 
dren were  redeemed.  I'^rce(h>m  was  placed  in  the  family  of 
Monsieur  Jac(|ues  Le  IJci',  merchant  of  Montreal,  and  on 
Tuesday,  the  (")th  of  April,  1706,  Machime  Le  Her  had  her 
ba|)tized  anew  by  Father  Meriel,  under  the  name  of  ^larie 
l'ran(;oise,  the  name  of  tl'e  \'irj;-in  added  to  that  of  her  god- 
mother, being  substituted  for  tlie  Puritanic  appellaticni  of 
Freedom,  by  wdiich  she  had  been  known  in  Deerfield.  vShe 
signs  her  new  name,  evidently  with  difficulty,  to  this  regis- 
ter, and  never  again  does  she  appear  as  Freedom  French. 
I  find  her  often  as  a  guest  at  the  marriages  of  her  Englisl 
friends.  Her  sister  Martha  was  given  by  her  Indian  captors 
to  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  at  Montreal.  On  the  23d 
of  January,  1707,  she  was  l)aptized  softs  cofu/i/iou,  receiving 
from  her  god-mother  the  name  of  Marguerite  in  addition  to 
her  own.     On  Tuesday,  November  24,  171 1,  when  about  six- 

'Thomas  French's  lioiisc  stood  just  south  of  the  present  parsonage  of  the 
Second  church  :  his  shop,  on  the  street  in  front  of  it.  Not  lonp  ago,  our  An- 
tiquary, digging  on  the  spot,  found  charcoal  and  bits  of  iron,  that  must  have 
fallen  from  the  blacksmith's  forge. 


204  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NKW    ENGLA.M.   CAPTIVES. 


teen,  she  was  married  by  Father  Meriel  to  Jacques  Roi,  a^cfl 
twenty-two,  of  the  village  of  St.  Lambert,  in  the  presence  of 
many   of  their  relatives  and  friends.     Jaccjues   Roi   cannot 
write  his  name,  but  the  bride,  Marthe  Marguerite  French, 
signs  hers  in  a  bold,  free  hand,    which   is  followed  by  the 
dashing  autograph  of  the  soldier,  Alphonse  de  Tonty  ;  and 
Marie  Franc/oise  French,  now  quite  an  adept  in  forming  the 
letters  of  her  new  name,  also  signs.     Two  years  later,  on  the 
6th  of  February,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  Marie  Fran(;oise 
French  married  Jean  Daveluy,  ten  years  older  than  herself, 
a  relative  of  Jacc[ues  Le  Roi,  her  sister's  husband.     Daveluy 
could  not  write,  but  here,  appended  to  the  marriage  register, 
1  hnd  for  the  last  time  the  autographs  of  the  two  sisters  writ- 
ten in  full,  Marie  Franyoi.se  and  Marthe  Marguerite  French. 
Elizabeth   Catlin,   sister  of    Deacon    French's   wife,   both 
daughters  of  Mr.  John  and   Mary   Baldwin   Catlin,  married 
James  Corse,  who  died  before  the  destruction  of   Deerfield, 
leaving  her  with  three  children,  two  boys  and  a  little  girl 
just  the  age  of  her  cou.sin.  Martha  French.     On   her  arrival 
in  Canada,  Elizabeth  Corse,  then  eight  years  old,  was  taken 
by  Pierre  Roy  or  Le  Roi,  an  inhabitant  of  St.  Lambert,  and 
on  July  14,  1705,  Pierre  Le  Roi's  wife,  Catharine  Ducharme, 
and  Gilbert  Maillet,  master  mason,  stood  as  sponsors  at  her 
baptism.     She   is   allowed    to  keep    her   own    name    intact, 
though  Father  Meriel  writes  it  Elizabeth  Casse.     The  Cana- 
dian   French  sometimes    pronounce    the   vowel  a    ah    and 
sometimes  axv.     The  latter  doubtless  represents  the  child's 
:>ronunciation  of  her  family  name,  the  r  being  entirely  sup- 
pressed.    With    Pierre    Le    Roi's    children,   Jean,    Jacques 
Barbe,  and  the  rest,  Elizabeth  Corse  gi"ew  up  to  the  age  of 
sixteen,  when,  on  the  6th  of  November,    1712,   she  married 
Jean  Dumontel  of  the  same  village.     It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  she  named  her  first  child  Mary,  in  memory  of  her  aunt, 
Mary  Catlin   French,   and    her   second,   Elizabeth,  for  her 


MV    HUNT    IT)R    TFJK   CAPTIVES.  205 


mother.  Several  with  Frcneh  names  follow,  tvnnn^  them  a 
Pierre,  whieh  seems  to  hint  at  a  kindly  regard  for  her  hene- 
faetor;  Pelagie.  the  last,  was  born  in  i/jS.  On  the  6th  of 
January,  1730.  lUizabeth  Corse  married,  at  St.  Lambert,  her 
seeond  husband.  Pierre  Monet.  It  was  in  this  very  year'that 
her  brother  James  went  up  from  Deerfield  to  look  for  her  in 
Canada.  How  one  longs  to  know  whether  he  found  her  a 
widow,  at  the  head  of  her  young  familv,  or  whether  he  ar- 
rived too  late  for  the  seeond  wedding.  It  seems  hardly  pos- 
sible  that  his  .seareh  eould  have  been  fruitless,  or  that  the 
little  eolony  of  cousins  and  friends,  settled  in  and  near  Mon- 
treal, eould  have  escaped  him. 

Thanks  to  the  detail  of   Father  Meriel  in  his  records,  a 
thread  of  fancy  moy  be  interwoven  with  these  bare  statistics. 
We  may  imagine  the  grief  and  loneliness  of  these  three 
cousins,  when,  after  the  horror  of  their  seizure  and  the  suf- 
fering of  the  journey  were   somewhat   abated,  they  found 
themselves  separated  among  a  people  .so  different  and  speak- 
ing a  strange  tongue.     No  doubt  good  Catharine  Ducharme 
was  at  her  wits'  end  to  know  what  to  do  with  the  wailing 
little  girl,  who  had  fallen  to  her  share  in  the  distribution  of 
prisoners ;  and  that  Martha  French  gave  the  pious  nuns  of 
the  Congregation  no  end  of  trouble.     The  solemn  routine  of 
the   -loister  must  have  been  very  irksome  to  the  wayward 
child,  who  had  been  free  to  rove  with   her  mates,   at  their 
own  sweet  will,  up  and  down  the  beautiful  street  of  Deer- 
field.     We  may  suppose  that,  after  Elizabeth's  baptism,  Dame 
Le  Roi  asked  the  Sisters  to  let  Martha  French  go  home  with 
her  to  St.  Lambert  for  a  while  ;  and  that  this  arrangement 
was  found  to  be  such  a  relief  to  all  concerned  that  the  visits 
became  frequent,  and  that  Freedom,  a/urs  Marie  Franjoise 
French  was  of  the  party.     P  is  possible  that  Mary  Brooks, 
who  was  the  same  age,  was  there  too.     She  had   been  bap- 
tizea  as  Marie  Claire  the  Sunday  after  Elizabeth  Corse,  and 


J-  .     "jwsms^'^^m 


206         trup:  stories  of  new  England  captives. 


was  livin^r  with  the  Seigneur  Joseph  de  Fleury  in  .Montreal, 
(iradiially  their  homesiekness  wore  away,  and  they  grew  to 
womanhood.  We  ean  pieture  these  grandchildren  of  Mr. 
John  Catlin,  light  haired,  dark  -ved— race  type  that  we  have 
known  so  well  in  later  generations.  No  wonder  that  Jacques 
Roi  and  Jean  Dumontel  thought  they  had  never  seen  maid- 
ens so  winsome  as  Martha  French  and  Elizabeth  Corse,  or 
that  even  grave,  sober  Jean  Daveluy,  with  his  thirty-one 
years'  experience,  was  finally  captivated  by  t..c  beauty,  vi- 
vacity and  saucy  wit  of  Mar^e  Franyoise  French,  who  was 
probably  living  with  her  married  sister  at  that  time. 

The  condition  of  the  people  of  Deerfield  in  the  fall  and 
winter  of  1703-4  is  pathetically  described  by  :\Ir.  Williams  in 
a  Icttler  to  Trovernor  Dudley,  which  I  have  quoted  in  anoth- 
er story.  Though  their  elders  were  depressed  by  foreboding 
and  fear,  the  young  people  of  the  village  seem  to  have  gone 
on  as  usual.  Early  in  December  young  John  Sheldon  rode 
down  to  Chicopee  and  brought  home  Hannah  Chapin,  his 
bride,  on  a  pillion  behind  him,  clad,  perhaps,  in  that  famous 
pelisse,  which  the  gossips  had  quilted  of  double  thickness, 
laughingly  telling  her  she  would  need  it  when  the  Indians 
should  carry  her  off  to  Canada,— s<i  perilous  was  the  situation 
at  Deerfield  considered.  1  must  confess  that  I  have  always 
looked  with  less  favor  on  two  other  marriages  contracted 
that  winter,  that  of  Elizabeth  Price  to  Andrew  Stevens,  the 
Indian,  and  that  of  Abigail  vStebbins  to  James  Denio,  of 
whcMii  all  that  we  have  hitherto  known  is  that  he  was  one  of 
three  Frenchmen  then  living  in  Deerfield.  That  these  two 
girls,  born  of  good  Puritan  stock,  should  have  done  this 
thing,  and  especially  at  a  time  when  the  very  name  of  French 
and  Indian  was  most  hateful  to  the  people  of  New  England, 
has  always  shocked  my  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things.  An- 
drew Stev^^ns,  "the  Indian,"  was  killed  at  the  sacking  of  the 
town.     His  young  wife,  with  James  Denio  and  his  bride,  Abi- 


■'-«i,-7  '^'r— ■fl 


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■^p^^ 


5s«r 


tACblMILt   01     THE   M^^KKIAUt    KfcuOKO   OF   L  Ll/Abt  I  H    PRICt 

NOTABIE  A3  BEARING  THE  SIGNATURES  O'    SEVERAl    (.APTIVEt 


Hi 


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,UjL»^/it~f  Vc   ,t'«fc/  ^   /V^y   (%Mi^.   ^«<  ^»«-«»^<'  4.i^-t»-    Jf-ttt^ 


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f^^*^  c^rlLv-  u^^^et- ' 


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mf 


hiiaiti'rrft^'iiiii 


mmmm 


MV    HUNT   FOR   THE   CAl'TIVES.  207 


g-ail  Stebbins,  her  father  and  mother  and  the  rest  of  their 
children  were  captured.     John  Stebbins,  his  wife   Dorothy 
andtheir  two  sons,  John   and   vSamuel,  came  back.     Abicjail 
and   her  husband,  lier    sister  Thankful,  and   her  brothers, 
Eljcnezcr  and  Joseph,  remained  in  Canada ;  so  also  did  Eliz- 
abeth Price  Stevens.     The  latter  lived  for  a  time  with  the 
Nuns  of  the  Con^irre<rati()n,  and  having  made   formal  abjura- 
tion of  the  "Calvinistic  heresy,"  was  baptized  on  the  25th  of 
April,    1705,    her   godmother,    Marie    Elizabeth    Le    Moyne, 
daughter  of  Charles  Le  Moyne,  Haron  Longueuil,  giving  her 
the  added  name  of  Marie.     Father  xMeriel  says  that  she  was 
"born  at  Northampton,  and  was  the  daughter  of  Robert  Price, 
Episcopalian,  and  of  his  wife,  Sara  Web,  Independent,  and 
widow  of  Andrew  Stevens  of  Northampton."     She  signs  the 
register  as  Marie  Elizabeth  Stevens,  but  the  autograph  looks 
as  if  her  hand  were  held  and   the  letters  traced  by  another. 
On  the  3d  of  February,   1706,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  she 
married  Jean  Fourneau,  a  UKister  shoemaker.     Among  those 
present  were  Samuel  ^Villiams,   "friend  of  the  bride,"  Han- 
nah Parsons,  Marie  Esther  Sayrs,  Christine  Otis  and  Catha- 
rine Denkyn,  all  English   captives.     She  died  ten  days  after 
the  birth  of  her  seventh  child,  Nov.  4,  1 7 1 6.     Though  we  may 
object  to  his  methods,  we  cannot  have  followed  thus  far  the 
ministrations  of  Father  Meriel  without  admiring  his  persist- 
ent efforts  to  save  the  souls  of  those  whom    he   regards   as 
heretics.     According  to  his  light  he  befriended  the  captives, 
and  there  can  be  no  question  of  his  sincerity.     I  felt  sure 
that  his  unflagging  zeal  would   sooner  or  later  put  Abigail 
Stebbins's  name  on  the  baptismal  register.     When  I  tell  you 
that  but  for  her  marriage  with   the  Frenchman  I  should  not 
have  been  I  and  this  sketch  might  not  have  been  written, 
you  will  understand  the  satisfaction  with  which  I  read  the 
following : 

"On  Monday,  the  28th  of  May,   1708,  the  rites  of  baptism  have 


np^^^^i^^r^i^^f.  mx  _  jj.  vJi!:iijj:'  i  '"i^^^^^s^^^^^^^^^^^^^sf^^t^fm^i^^^^^^^^wwimm 


208  I'KUE    STORIES    OV    NEW    ENGI.AM)    CAI'TIVES. 

been  administered  by  nie  the  undersigned  Priest,  to  an  English 
woman,  named  in  her  own  country  Abigail  Stebbens,  who  born  at 
Dearfield  in  New  England,  the  4th  of  January  1684  (N.  S.)  of  the 
marriage  of  John  Stebbens  an  inhabitant  of  that  place,  and  of  Dor- 
othy Alexander,  both  Indei)entiants,  having  been  baptized  by  the 
minister  of  that  place  some  years  after  and  married  the  r4th  of 
P'ebruary  1704  to  Jacques  Desnoions  now  Sergeant  of  Mr.  de  'I'on- 
ti's  company,  came  with  him  to  ("anada,  towards  the  end  of  the  fol- 
lowing March,  and  lives  with  him  at  Jjoucherville.  Her  name  Abi- 
gail has  been  changed  to  that  of  Marguerite.  She  has  had  for  her 
godfather  the  High  and  Mighty  Seigneur  I'hillippede  Rigaud,  Mar- 
quis de  \'audreuil.  Chevalier  de  rOrdre  Militaire  de  St.  Louis  and 
Governor-General  of  New  France  ;  and  for  godmother.  Marguerite 
Bouat,  wife  of  Antoine  I'acaud,  royal  treasury  clerk 

who  have  signed  with  me 
according  to  the  ordinance." 

The  autographs  follow  : 

Vaudkeuii, 
Mgte  l^ouAT  Pascaid 
Margueritk  Stkbhen 

Abigail's  signature  shows  that  she  was  over-powered  by  the 
presence  of  the  //a///  it  puissant  Governor-General. 

"Both  Independants."  How  it  stirs  the  dissenting  blood 
in  one's  veins  to  read  this  of  old  John  Stebbins  and  his  wife 
Dorothy.  How  much  in  a  little  Father  Meriel  gives  us. 
Here  we  have  for  the  first  time  the  real  name  and  occtipation 
of  Abigail's  husband,  Jacques  Desnoions,  now  Sergeant  in 
Mr.  de  Tonti's  company.  That  no'-u'  banishes  my  life-long 
fear  that  the  three  Frenchmen  in  Deertield  that  winter  were 
scouts  sent  in  advance  by  Hertel  de  Rouville.  It  is  notice- 
able that  Abigail  wStebbins  is  not  spoken  of  as  the  others 
have  been,  as  "captured  F'eb.  29.  1704  and  brought  to  Cana- 
da," but  as  having  "come  with  her  husband  to  Canada,  and 
living  with  him  at  Boucherville."  Here  then  was  the  clue. 
Boucherville  was  the  home  of  Abigail's   married   life.     On 


n«P«!iii,iim 


MY    HUNT    FOR   THE   CAPTIVES, 


209 


its  parish  records  I  must  look  for  the  births  of  her  children. 
With  reluctance  I  shut  the  Montreal  register  and  set  about 
going-  to  Boucherville. 

Easily  accessible  in  summer,  it  was  not  to  be  thought  of 
in  midwinter,  said  the  officials.  Thought,  however,  is  not 
so  easily  dismiissed.  The  thing  done  often  seems  of  so  little 
worth,  compared  with  the  thing  foregone.  After  groping 
awhile  among  the  defective  copies  of  parish  records  in  the 
court  house,  the  Gordian  knot  was  cut  by  a  suggestion  from 
the  lady  from  Philadelphia  that  we  should  get  across  the 
river  by  train  and  trust  luck  for  the  rest.  Booming  through 
the  great  bridge,  we  halted  for  a  moment  at  Saint-Lambert, 
the  adopted  home  of  Elizabeth  Corse  and  her  cousins,  and 
thence  to  Longueuil.  Here  the  courtesy  of  our  conductor 
was  our  luck.  He  gave  us  in  charge  to  a  clever  French  driv- 
er, in  whose  capacious  sleigh,  with  only  our  heads  visible 
above  the  bear  skins  tucked  up  close  under  our  chins,  we 
glided  on  to  Boucherville. 

The  road  from  Longueuil  to  Boucherville  is  a  forcible  re- 
minder of  that  modified  feudalism  which  formed  the  basis 
of  Canadian  colonization.  Longueuil  and  Boucherville  are 
among  the  oldest  seigniories  granted  by  the  king  with  pat- 
ents of  nobility  to  the  more  prominent  colonists  of  Canada. 
Charles  Le  Moyne,  Baron  of  Longueuil,  the  son  of  an  inn- 
keeper at  Dieppe,  was  a  man  of  rare  worth.  The  family 
founded  by  him  is  still  eminent  in  Canada.  Boucherville 
was  the  seigniory  of  Pierre  Boucher,  whose  descendants, 
the  De  Bouchervilles,  a  family  of  distinction,  still  live  on  the 
spot.  "The  fief  of  the  seignior,"  says  Mr.  Parkman,  "varied 
from  half  a  league  to  six  leagues  fronting  on  the  river,  and 
from  half  a  league  to  two  leagues  in  depth.  The  condition 
imposed  on  him  may  be  said  to  form  the  distinctive  feature 
of  Canadian  feudalism,  that  of  clearing  his  land  within  a 
limited  time,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  it."     This  was  to  prevent 


WW^F^ 


2IO  TKUE    SI'OklKS    OF    NHVV    ENdl.ANI)    CAPTIVKS. 


the  kinds  of  the  colony  from  lying  waste.  "Canadian  feudal- 
ism." still  quotin-,^  Mr.  Parkman,  "was  made  to  serve  a  double 
end,— to  produce  a  faint  and  harmless  reflection  of  French 
aristocracy,  and  simply  and  practically  to  supply  a^^encies 

for   distributing   land  among  the  settlers." "As   the 

seignior  was  often  the  penniless  owner  of  a  domain  three  or 
four  leagues  wide  and  proportionally  deep,  he  could  not  clear 
it  all  himself,  and  was  therefore  under  the  necessity  t)f  plac- 
ing the  greater  part  of  it  in  the  hands  of  those  wh(j  could. 
But  he  was  forbidden  to  sell  any  part  of  it  which  he  had  not 
cleared."     He  must  grant  it  in  turn  to  his  vassals,  on  condi- 
tion of  a  small  annual  rent.     The  usual  grant  from  a  seign- 
ior to  his  vassal  included  woodland  and  tillage.     It  was  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  in  depth,  with  a  narrow  river  frontage. 
The  ccnsitairc  or  tenant,  habitant  as  he  is  still  called,  natur- 
ally built  on  the  front  of  his  lot,  close  by  the  river,  which 
served  as  his  highway,  and  as  his  neighbors  did  the  same,  a 
single  line  of  dwellings,  not  far  apart,  was  ranged  along  the 
shore,  forming  what  is  to  this  day  called  a  cote.     A  continu- 
ous cote  connects  Longueuil  and  BcHicherville.     The  pictur- 
esque beauty  of  the  landscape  and  the  splendor  of  that  win- 
ter day  are  indescribable.     The  road  of  spotless  white  fol- 
lowed for  seven  miles  along  its  southern  shore  the  curves  of 
the  magnificent  river.     At  the  right,  quaint  old  dwellings, 
each  with  its  long  well-sweep,  its  Lombardy  poplars  and  its 
rude  paling  ;  the  houses  a  story  and  a  half   high,  built  of 
stones  and  bits  of  rock  of  a  rich  brown  color,   irregular  in 
size  and  shape,  and  imbedded  in  coarse,  gray  mortar;  high, 
steep  roofs,  painted  black  or  dull   red,  with  curved  and  far 
projecting  eaves  ;  huge  chimneys  at  the  gable  ends,  built  up 
from  the  ground    outside  ;  casement   windows  of   different 
shapes  and  sizes,  set  without  regard  to  external  symmetry, 
and  protected  by  heavy  red  wooden  shutters  ;  long,  low  barns, 
whose  warped  and  weathered  sides  are  crusted  with  yellow 


mm 


MY    HUNT   FOR   TFIK    fAl'TIVES.  211 


lichens,  their  roofs  thickly  thatched,  the  thatch  bristlin^^ 
erect  like  a  close  cut  mane,  along;  the  ridge  pole.  Enormous 
ricks  of  straw  were  clustered  in  the  ang-les  of  the  buildings  ; 
shaggy,  stout-legged  horses  huddled  together  in  the  barn 
yards,  resting  their  necks  on  each  other;  clumsy  Breton 
cows  moved  slowly  about;  dingy,  lieavy-lleeced  sheep  poked 
their  noses  down  among  the  dead  grass  of  the  lields,  which 
the  winds  had  laid  bare  in  spots.  An  habitant  raking  straw 
from  a  snow-topped  rick  was  the  only  sign  of  human  life. 
His  boots  of  untanned  deer  skin,  his  blouse  of  blue  home- 
spun, belted  \  ih  a  scarlet  sash,  the  tasselled  peak  of  his  red 
woollen  cap  falling  to  his  shoulder,  gave  a  bit  of  bright  col- 
or to  the  picture.  Behind  the  farm  buildings  lay  a  vast  ex- 
panse of  snow-drifted  meadow,  sparkling  as  if  encrusted 
with  gems;  here  and  there  a  graceful  elm  in  its  naked  beau- 
ty; and  in  the  middle  distance,  rising  abruptly  from  the 
plain,  a  pale  blue  mountain,  vague  and  tender  in  the  rimy 
atmosphere.  At  the  left  there  was  the  low  slope  of  the  riv- 
er's bank.  Now  and  then  the  blackened  thyrse  of  a  sumach, 
or  the  dry  pod  of  a  milkweed  rustled  on  its  stalk,  turning 
its  buff  satin  lining  to  the  light.  Clumps  of  the  red  osier 
and  yellow  twigs  of  dwarf  willows  already  gave  promise  of 
spring.  At  intervals  immense  blocks  of  ice  jammed  togeth- 
er, formed  a  rampart  that  cut  off  the  view.  Near  Boucher- 
ville  the  river  bank  broadened  into  a  great  stretch  of  marsh, 
the  haunt  of  innumerable  wild  ducks  ;  and  far  beyond  this 
the  long,  low  Isles  of  Boucherville  broke  the  otherwise  dreary 
expanse  of  the  gulf-like  river. 

Road  and  river,  mountain  and  meadow  are  the  same  to-day 
as  on  that  blustering  March  day  in  1704,  when  at  the  disper- 
sion of  the  captives  at  Montreal,  Jacques  de  Noyon  and  his 
young  bride  wended  the  same  way  to  his  old  home  at 
Boucherville.  Perhaps  her  husband,  pitying  her  distress, 
had  begged   that   her    father  and   mother   and  her  young 


212  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

brothers  and  sister  mi^ht  aceompany  them.  The  hou-ses 
may  have  differed  somewhat  from  those  of  to-day.  Doubt- 
less some  were  built  of  loj^s  and  daubed  with  elay.  What- 
ever the  material,  the  form  was  the  same  ;  "Sueh  as  the  peas- 
ants of  Normandy  built  in  the  reign  of  the  Henries." 

From  the  northern  provinees  of  Franee,  from  Brittany, 
Normandy  and  Pieardy,  Canada  was  peopled.  They  eame 
in  sueh  numbers  that  the  kin<^  at  last  instrueted  his  minis- 
ter to  inform  the  intendant  that  he  needed  his  peasants  for 
soldiers  and  eould  not  afford  to  depopulate  Franee  in  order 
to  people  Canada.  Year  after  year,  ln)wever,  shipload  after 
shipload  sailed  from  Roehelle  or  Dieppe.  An  anonymous 
writer  of  the  perit)d  deseribes  them  as  "doeile,  industrious 
and  pious."  Mr.  Parkman  adds  :  "They  seem  to  have  been 
in  the  main,  a  deeent  peasantry.  vSome  of  them  eould  read 
and  write,  and  some  brought  with  them  a  little  money." 

Renowned  as  is  the  town  of  Noyon  in  Pieardy  for  its  linen 
faetories  and  its  magnilieent  ehureh  of  the  thirteenth  een- 
t.ury,  famous  as  the  plaee  where  Charlemagne  was  first 
erowned  and  Hugh  Capet  eleeted  king,  it  is  still  more  famous 
as  the  birthplaee  of  Jean  Chauvin,  or  John  Calvin,  the  great 
reformer.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  another  John,  born  in 
Noyon  at  a  time  when  surnames  were  unusual,  eame  to  be 
known  as  John  of  Noyon,  or  Jean  de  Noyon.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  we  may  assume  that  among  the  emigrants  who,  not- 
withstanding the  king's  protest,  sailed  yearly  from  Roehelle 
or  Dieppe,  eame  Jean  de  Noyon,  with  his  wife,  Jeanne 
Franehard,  and  Marin  Chauvin  of  the  Calvins  of  Noyon, 
with  his  wife,  (jilette  Ban.  The  women  were  Normans, 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Rouen.  I  have  no  doubt  that  their 
husbands  were  Pieards,  old  friends  and  eomrades  in  the 
town  of  Noyon.  They  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Canada.  On  the  8th  of  December,  1650,  Marie,  daughter  of 
Marin  and  Gilette  Chauvin,  was  baptized  at  Three  Rivers. 


MV    hUNT    I'OK    rilK   CAl'l'lVLS. 


213 


Shu  married  at  fourteen,  Rolin  Lan^lois  of  Three  Rivers,  a 
man  ten  years  her  senior.  He  died  within  Hiree  months  af- 
ter his  marria<^c,  and  the  youth  fid  widow  married  the  same 
year  Jean  de  Noyon  of  Three  Rivers,  she  being  then  fifteen 
and  he.  twenty-three  years  of  age.  This  was  at  the  time 
when  sueh  an  incentive  to  early  marriai^e  was  offered  by  the 
kinjif  in  yearly  pensions  to  those  who  should  become  the  par- 
ents of  larjjfe  families.  Pierre  I»oucher  was  then  {governor 
of  Three  Rivers  and  his  daughter  married  there  at  the  age 
of  twelve. 

William,  the  oldest  son  of  Jean  de  Noyon,  and  Marie  Chau- 
vin,  the  widow  Langlois,  was  born  about  1666.  Their  sec- 
ond son,  fac([ues,  our  James,  was  baptized  at  Three  Rivers, 
Feb.  i2lh,  166S.  Jean  de  Noyon,  2d.  son  of  Jean  and  of  his 
wife,  Jeanne  Franchard,  and  father  of  William  and  James, 
was  an  edge  tool  maker  and  a  master  of  his  trade.  A  man 
who  could  make  bill  hooks  and  felling  axes  must  have  been 
very  useful  in  a  new  country,  and  I  dare  say  that  Pierre 
Boucher,  governor  of  Three  Rivers,  offered  him  some  in- 
ducement to  become  a  tenant  of  his  seigniory.  Whether 
this  be  so  or  not  he  removed  with  his  famih'  soon  after  the 
birth  of  his  second  son,  to  Boucherville.  There  three  more 
sons  and  five  daughters  were  born  to  him,  ten  children  in 
all.  They  probably  ran  about  bareheaded  and  barefooted, 
in  scanty  clothing,  and  "grew  stout  on  bread  and  eels."  As 
I  find  no  evidence  tliat  any  of  them  became  priest,  monk  or 
nun,  I  suppose  that  Jean  de  Noyon  received  annually  three 
hundred  livres  of  the  king's  bounty  money.  This,  with  what 
he  could  earn  from  his  trade  and  the  product  of  his  tillage, 
supported  the  family.  The  eels  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  smoked 
and  salted,  supplied  them  with  much  of  their  food.  As  they 
grew  older  the  boys  hunted  and  fished,  and  in  winter,  per- 
haps, helped  their  father  to  fell  and  hew  timber  for  the  mar- 
ket, getting  in  exchange  the  bare  necessities  of  life.     The 


214  I'KUK   sroKU.      i»l'    NKW     KNC.I.AND   tAl' i  I VKS. 


j;cncr;il  tcsliinony  I'Diu-ri-niiij^-  llu-  Canadian  yoiilli  of  that 
period  is  that  they  woiihl  not  work,  hut  were  idk-  and  unnily, 
and  as  soon  as  thev  eouM  handle  a  ^un  the\'  spurned  re- 
straint and  spent  ihc-ii-  time  in  the  woods. 

Ilou.sehoUl  dinulj^ery  oeeui)ied  the  inothei'.  The  ^irls 
worked  in  the  liehls  in  summer  hut  s|)ent  their  winters  in 
idleness.  1  )omestie  spinninj;'  and  weavinj^'  were  unknown 
arts  in  CaiKuhi  at  that  time  and  hemp  and  lla.\  were  not  eul- 
tivated  till  mueh  later. 

fean  de  Xoyon,  mastei"  eih^e  tool  maker,  died  in  1692. 
^Vhether  his  eldest  son,  William,  who  had  married  three 
years  before,  li\ed  with  his  motlier  and  sueeeeded  to  for^e 
and  farm,  1  know  not.  At  this  time  the  disorders  arisinj^' 
from  tlie  fur  trade  were  at  their  heij^ht.  In  vain  did  the 
home  government  try  to  rei;ulate  or  eontrol  this  Iral'tie.  I^i- 
eenses  were  ^'ranted,  annual  fairs  estal)lished,  to  no  purpose. 
Hundreds  of  yoiiny;  men  took  to  the  woods,  earrying  y;o()ds 
and  brandy  to  e.xehange  with  the  savage  for  peltries  at  their 
own  priee,  to  sell  again  at  large  prolits.  All  the  youth  and 
the  vigor  of  the  eolony  was  absorbed  in  this  irregular  trade. 
Men  could  not  be  found  to  till  the  seignior's  acres.  Farms 
ran  wild  again.  Agriculture  languished.  Poi)idation  di- 
minished. A  year  or  two  of  this  free  life  in  the  wilderness 
made  men  aver.se  to  labor  and  loath  to  marry.  The  king  was 
in  despair.  Severe  edicts  were  followed  by  generous  amnes- 
ties. The  lawless  vagabonds  cared  no  more  for  one  than  the 
other.  Neither  threats  of  branding,  whipping,  hard  labor 
at  the  galleys,  nor  promise  of  the  king's  grace  and  bounty 
could  induce  this  army  of  courciirs  dc  bois^  to  return  to  the 
duties  and  obligations  of  civilized  life.  vSt)  general  was  this 
outlawry,  that  at  one  time  the  intendant  writes  to  the  minis- 
ter that  "There  is  not  a  family  of  any  condition  or  quality 

'Bushrangers.      By    the    Dutch      caUed     Bos    Loopers:  by    the    English, 
Swampiers. 


nmw  I  I]  ■•mnrt  "mt  *m 


M\     IIIIN'I'    l'(»K     IIIK    CAI'IIVKS. 


215 


soever  that  lias  not  children,  brothers,  uncles  and  nephews 
anion^-  them,"  and  lie  expresses  the  fear  that  if  a1)S()lute  par- 
don is  not  offered  them  "they  may  he  drawn  to  pass  over  to 
the  ICnj^iish.  .vjiich  would  he  a  j^a-neral  loss  to  the  country." 
A^ain  he  wi-iles:  "'IMie  co/iriiirs  di'  /ois  not  only  act  ()[)enly, 
hut  they  carry  their  peltries  to  the  Hnj^dish  and  try  to  drive 
the  Indian  trade  thither."'  There  is  plenty  of  evidence  that 
the  iCiij^iish  look  advantaj^e  of  the  situation,  paid  the  I)ush- 
rau,L;ers  twice  as  much  for  their  beaver  skins  as  the  Canadian 
merchants  and  sold  them  merchandise  at  much  cheaper 
rates. 

jac(|ucs,   the  second    son  of   Jean   de    Noyon,   would  have 
been  twenty  four  years  old  at  his  father's  death.     It  is  hardly 
l)r<)l)al)le  that  under  any  circumstances  he  would  have  stayed 
at  home  under  his  brother's  rule.     Of  his  career  uj)  to  the 
time  of  his  a[)pearance   in    Deerfield  lam  ij,aiorant.     As  he 
was  probably  no  better  nor  worse  than  his  fellows,  why  may 
we  nv;t  assume  that  he  was  a  part  of  this  general  exodus  of 
the  youno-   men?     Official   letters   from  the  New  York  gov- 
ernment conlirm  the  I-rench  accounts  of  the  attitude  of  the 
loiinnrs  dc  Iwis—Boss  lopcrs  as  they  are  called.     On  Aug.  17, 
i/oo,  David  Schuyler  writes  to  the  luirl  of  Bellamonf''  that 
Jean  Rosie,  the  interpreter,  whom   Peter  Schuyler  mentions 
as  an  inhabitant  of  Albany  and  a  very  honest  man  although 
a  Frenchman,  "told  him  that  there  were  thirty  of  the  Princi- 
pall  Bush  loopers,  Canadians  born,  had  combined   together 
to  come  to  iMbany  for  pa.sses  to  go  to  Ottowawa,  for  the  gov- 
ernor of  Canada  would  give  them  no  passes  there."     In  No- 
vember t)f  the  same  year  Samuel  York,  a  Portland  man  who 
had  just  been  released  from  a  ten  years'  captivity  in  Canada, 
and  with  Jean  Ro.^   j,  a  loyal  citizen  of  Albany,  pas.sed  fre- 

'Memotial  of  Duchcsneau  to  the  Minister.     N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  Vol.  IX,  p.  131. 
■'Memorial  of    David  Schuyler  to  the  Earl  of  Bellamont.     N    Y    Col     Doc 
Vol.  IV,  p.  747. 


ii"<'m 


^wi^gjpw  iiiiw«^j».,j««i«, 


1 6 


Kill':  sroKiKs  oi''  Ni'.w   i:n(;i.ani)  cAnivKs. 


(|iK'nlIv  l)ack  and  forlli  as  ciivoys  hct  wci-n  New  VovU  and 
Canada,  tcstiru'Son  cxannnatinn  that  many  of  tin-  coiiirins  dr 
buis  WW  in  lli-j  ()tla\va\va  cDnntry,  "in  a  sort  of  i-dxdlion,"  rc;- 
fiisinj;' to  obey  llic  ordci'sof  llu- ( "anadian  ^nv't'iaior  and  "very 
desirous  lo  come  to  tradi-  liei-(>  witli  the  ICnj^lisli,  old)'  fi'ar 
tlie  I'^ive  Nations  will  not  sniTci-  llieni  to  pass  thi-on,L;Ii  their 
eoiintry."'  N'oik  and  Rosie  also  told  (lovefiiof  Hellanioid 
that  these  linntei's  had  assnrecl  thcin  they  would  eoine  and 
oiler  their  sei\dees  to  hini  and  (|nit  Canada  r(nc\'er.  ICvi- 
dently  t he  <;()\'ei"nor  (lid  not  diseonra;.a'  tlii'se  advances,  f(»r 
on  the  -iC)!!)  of  (  )i'tol)er,  1700,  two  h'rcneh  bushranj^cfs  a])- 
pi'ared  in  New  N'ork  with  the  following-  petition  :' 

"My  1,(11(1,  W'c,  jciii  !)(•  .\()3'()ii  ;iii(|  Lopis  ( lossclvii,  ( oinc  lo 
|)I.icc  (iiirsi'lvcs  inidci-  ydin-  I'InccIIcihv's  prdtecUDM,  in  llic  iiopc 
thai  yon  will  allow  n^  to  live  and  trade  with  Kinj^-  William's  siih- 
jcrts  in  the  town  of  Alhany  and  jfrani  lis  the  same  ri^lils  and  privi- 
Icj^cs  as  01  hers  <'njoy,  in  wlii(  li  case  wc  siihmil  omscUcs  with  prom- 
ise' ol  ridclity  to  I  lie  laws  of  die  j^ovcrnmcnl .  W C  arc  commissioned 
hy  oiir  comiadcs  to  assinc  yoii,  if  onr  rc(|iicst  he  ;^rantci|,  diat 
twcntylwo,  all  line  yoiin.i,f  men,  will  come  loAlhmv  ncxl  i''cl)iii- 
ar\'.  And  aftci'  lli.at  we  |)romise  to  hrinj^,  01  the  monlli  of  Sepiem- 
hci-  of  llieye.ar  1701,  thirty  hrave  fellows  to  1  he  sam  town  of  Al- 
hany, all  laden  with  peltry  :  and  fiiialK',  we  ohlii;c  onrselves  fiirllii'r 
in  }4()od  laith  to  hrini;-,  in  llic  .aforesaid  month  of  Seplc  inher.  on  onr 
naurii  from  hiinliii;;,  ten  or  twelve  of  the  |)rni(  ipal  Sacliims  of  the 
Ottowawa  Nations.       Dated  in   New  \drk,  this  j6.  ()(loher,    1700. 

Dr.NovoN. 
L.  (iossia.iN." 

Tlie  ^-overnor  acts  eantionsly,  iV-.irinj;-  the  (Iret^ks,  even 
heafin.o-  j^ifls.  'Idns  oppoi'tunit  \'  to  trade  will)  the  ( )flowawas 
and  to  sediiee  the  Northei-n  Indians  from  their  alie^^-i.'Uiee  to 
the  iM-eneh,  is  a  stronjj;- tein])tali(»n.      In  November  he  writes 

'Memorial  nf  Samuel    Ymk,  (  ai  pciiiiT.      N.  Y.  Cul.  Doc,  Vol.  IV',  p,  7.((j. 
•'Memorial  of  Two    l'"ieiiili    HiisltiaiiKcrs.      N.    V.  Col.    Doc.  Vol.   IV,  |).  7(j7. 


M\'    lli:\l     |(»k     rill',   (  Al'l  IVKS. 


217 


uMil.'Llivcly  to  the  I.oids  of  Ti-.-uh;,  s(  1 1 iii;;-  lorLli  lliu  advan- 
ta^^cs  of  heaver  liiiiil  iiij';  in  the  Ullowawa  eoiint  i-y.' 

Who  w.'is  the  jciii  i\^'  Noyoii  who  was  in  New  V'ork  in  the 
anUimii  of  1700,  as  envoy  fron)  the  rebellious  ^rv/r^v/y-.v  ^A  ^^/.v  ? 
jean,  the  faiiier  of  Ia(,'(jiu;s,  was  (K:a(|  low^i;  Ijefore.  ((^aii 
I'aptiste,  jae(|nes'  hiotluT,  was  hut  a  l.'id  of  fouiliHMi.  It 
wouhl  hi'  too  (larih;^'  a  j^uess,  for  a  matter  of  fael  liistoi-jan, 
that  it  was  |ae(|iics  himself.  It  is  not  inipossihlc  tliat  the 
translator  of  the'  petition  ma)'  iineonseiously  have  rinidcrcd 
)ae(|nes  as  Jack,  the  niekn/inie  of  John,  and  thus  ehan;.M.Ml 
the  name.  This  (|uestion  is  left  to  h(j  solved  hy  future  rc- 
scareh,  eitju-r  directly  fri^m  ("anad.i,  oi'  inoi-e  likely  hy  way 
of  Aihany. 

Jaccjiies  de  Noyon,  a  huslii-anj;er,  discontented  with  his 
^'•overnment  and  scekin;^-  a  new  home,  came  to  Oeerlield. 
That  lie  was  thirty-si.\  yc-ars  old  and  unmarried  favors  my 
theory  that  he  had  led  a  rovinj^  life.  I'"lattiM-ed  hy  the  pref- 
erenct;  of  the  sti'an^^ei-,  a  man  so  much  older  than  lierself, 
the  soherniinded  Puritan  ;^irl  was  attracted  hy  the  }.(ay ///- 
soiiddiKc  of  such  a  cliaracter.  His  vivacity  and  intellij^cnce, 
!ns  ardent  tempei-an.cnt,  his  reckless  courage,  his  .son;^s  and 
tales  of  wild  a(lvc;ntuie  t:a])tivated  her,  and  under  his  prom- 
ise that  her  people  should  he  his  people,  her  (1(k1  his  (Jod, 
she  marrii;d  him. 

"The  l)est  laid  ])lans  of  mice  and  men  '^\i\v^  aft  a;;!ey,"  and 
sud(K'idy,  in  a  most  unex])ected  manner,  jaecpics  de  Noyon 
was  i-estored  to  his  native  land.  lV;rhaps  his  presence  on 
that  fateful  niL;ht  saved  his  wile'.s  whole  family  from  the 
tomahawk. 

On  his  retuin  to  !'>ouchcrville,  Jactpies  de  Noyon  prohahly 
found  his  mother  and  her  three  younjrcst  children,  a  son 
and  two  dauj^hters,  livinjr  on  the  old  spot.  We  can  imagine 
tlie  stir  in  the  family  at  the  return  of  the  cnitlaw  with  hi.s 

'LeUcr  of  Hcllaiiionl  lo  Uie  Lords  of 'I'liidL'.      N.  Y.  C<d.  Dcjt.  Vol.  fV,  p.  781, 


41... ^Ljiu.i'i'iuimit .ai.ii«w  .,.. jf'tss^gssmmmm 


218  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


English  bride  and  her  relatives.  In  the  following  Decem- 
ber the  first  child  of  Jacques  de  Noyon  and  Abigail  vSteljbins 
was  born.  On  the  28th  of  December,  1704,  in  the  parish 
church  of  vSainte-Famille  at  Boucherville,  Father  de  la  Sau- 
dray  baptized  "Reno  de  Noyons,  born  the  26th  of  the  same 
month,  son  of  Jacques  de  Noyon  and  (rabrielle  Stebben,  his 
wife  living  in  this  parish,"  Jean  Boucher,  vSieur  de  Niver- 
ville  and  Marie  de  Boucherville  standing  as  sponsors  to  the 
child.  In  Gabrielle  I  recognize  the  attempt  of  De  Noyon's 
mother  and  sisters  to  render  into  French,  Abigail,  the  harsh 
English  name  of  his  wife.  Other  children  followed  in  rapid 
succession.  On  the  12th  of  March,  1706,  Father  Meriel,  who 
seems  never  to  have  lost  track  of  a  single  Deerfield  captive, 
baptized  Marie  Gabrielle,  born  the  day  Ijefore,  Louise  de 
Noyon,  the  baby's  aunt,  being  her  godmother. 

Jean  Baptiste  was  born  August  11,  1707,  and  baptized  the 
next  day,  his  paternal  uncle,  for  whom  he  was  named,  acting 
as  godfather.  This  child  died  "in  the  communion  of  the 
holy  Catholic  church"  exactly  one  year  from  the  day  of  his 
birth. 

Up  to  this  time  we  have  no  clue  to  the  occupati(jn  of 
Jacques  de  Noyon  after  his  return  to  Canada.  His  life  in 
the  bush  had  unfitted  him  for  farming;  the  forest  was  his 
element;  a  young  family  was  pressing  upon  liim  for  sup- 
port ;  a  soldier's  life  was  most  to  his  taste,  and  he  became 
a  sergeant  in  Mr.  de  Tonti's  company.  This  was  Alphonse 
de  Tonti,  younger  brother  of  the  distinguished  Henri  de 
Tonti,  friend  and  companion  of  La  Salle.  Father  Meriel 
had  never  ceased  importuning  De  Noyon  to  have  his  wife 
baptized  into  the  holy  Catholic  church.  vShe  felt  that  the 
baptism  which  she  had  received  from  good  Parson  Williams 
was  sufficient,  and  as  her  husband's  long  separation  from 
church  and  priest  had  made  him  indifferent,  he  did  not 
urge  her.     Now  that  he  was  turning  his  back  on  his  former 


■■ 


MV    HUNT    FOR    THE    CAPTIVKS.  219 


life  and  ranging  himself  on  the  side  of  law  and  order,  and 
as  at  any  moment  he  might  be  killed  in  battle,  he  probably 
thought  it  wise  to  seenre  for  her  the  protection  of  the  church. 
Accordingly  one  Monday  morning  in  May,  1708,  they  pad- 
dled over  in  their  canoe  to  Montreal,  where,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  she  was  baptized  Marguerite.  This  was  an 
eventful  summer.  On  the  29th  of  June,  her  young  brother 
Ebenezer,  who  was  living  with  her,  was  baptized,  receiving 
from  his  god-father,  Jacques  Charles  de  .Sabrevois,  captain 
of  a  detachment  of  the  marine,  the  name  of  Jacques  Chai  .-;s. 
The  certificate  is  signed  by  the  priest,  by  De  Noyon  in  a 
handsome  handwriting,  by  De  vSabrevois,  and  by  the  wife  of 
the  Seignieur  Boucher  as  god-mother. 

The  fourth  child  of  Jacques  and  Abigail  vStebbins  de  Noy- 
on, was  born  on  the  12th  of  October,  1708,  and  named  Jean 
Baptiste  in  memory  of  his  dead  brother.  His  aunt,  Thcrcse 
Stebbins,  whom  we  remember  as  Thankful  Stebbins  of 
Deerfield,  and  who  was  living  with  her  sister  Abigail,  was 
his  godmother.  In  the  record  of  baptism  the  Ijaby's  mother 
is  called  by  her  new  name.  Marguerite.  The  father  was  ab- 
sent on  this  occasion,  being  doubtless  with  his  company  at 
Fort  Frontenac,  then  commanded  by  Captain  de  Tonti.  It  is 
probable  that  Abigail's  father  and  mother  and  brother  John 
had  ere  this  been  released  from  captivity.  Before  the  Ijirth 
of  their  next  child,  Francois,  baptized  July  7th,  17 10,  Jacques 
de  Noyon  had  removed  his  family  to  the  Cute  St.  Joseph, 
another  part  of  the  parish  of  Boucherville.  This  must  have 
been  an  equal  relief  to  his  mother  and  his  wife.  I  fancy 
that  the  housekeeping  now  began  to  show  New  England 
thrift  and  industry,  and  that  the  noise  of  the  shuttle  and  the 
cheerful  hum  of  the  spinning  wheel  were  soon  heard  in  the 
new  home.  Dorothce,  named  for  her  grandmother  Steb- 
bins, was  baptized  Oct.  3,  171 1.  Then  followed  Marie  Jo- 
seph, who  died  in  infancy,  Jacques  Rene,  Marie  Charlotte,  an- 


mmmmgammmr-^ 


220  TRUE    STORIES    OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


Other  Marie  Joseph,  Marie  Magdalen,  and  finally  Joseph,  born 
June  21,  1724. 

Rene,  the  eldest  of  these  children,  when  about  ten  years 
old,  had  been  sent  with  a  party  of  French  and  Indian  trad- 
ers to  visit  his  grandparents  in  Deerfield.  His  grandfather 
Stebbins  induced  him  to  stay,  and  when  the  hunters  were 
ready  to  go  back  Rene  could  not  be  found.  Not  understand- 
ing the  boy's  pronunciation  of  his  own  name,  or  wishing 
him  to  bear  a  more  godly  appellation,  his  grandfather  called 
him  Aaron.  So  Rene  de  Noyon  grew  up  in  Deerfield  as 
Aaron  Denio.  In  1723,  John  Stebbins  died.  In  his  will  he 
left  one-eighth  of  his  lands  to  each  of  his  children  then  in 
Canada,  to  wit:  Samuel,  Ebenezer,  Joseph,  Abigail  and 
Thankful,  provided  they  would  come  and  live  in  isfew  Eng- 
land. Each  one's  share,  if  he  died  in  New  England,  was  to 
descend  to  his  heirs ;  otherwise,  to  revert  to  those  who  re- 
mained in  New  England. 

"Those  that  will  not  live  in  New  England,"  says  the  old  man, 
"shall  have  five  shillings  apiece,  and  no  more Yet  be  it  for- 
ever understood  that  if  my  daughter  Abigail  come  not  and  tarry  as 
above  said,  then  Aaron  Denieur,  her  son,  shall  be  my  Heir  in  her 
Room  and  Stead,  provided  Said  Aaron  continue  in  this  Countrey 
then.  After  my  decease  and  my  wife's  decease.  Said  Aaron  shall 
enter  upon  that  which  should  have  been  his  mother's  part,  and  pos- 
sess it  until  his  mother  comes,  but  if  She  come  not  and  fulfill  the 
above  said  Conditions,  and  Aaron  stays  in  New  England  and  doth 
fulfill  them,  then   the   said  eighth    part  of    my  lands  to  descend  to 

said   Aaron's   heirs    forever." And  if  some  of   my  children, 

now  in  Canada,  shall  come  and  fulfill  the  conditions though 

the  rest  come  not  then  my  lands  shall  be  divided  between  my  son 

John  and  Aaron,  and  those  that  do  come John  having  three 

times  as  much  as  one  of  the  rest 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Jacques  and  Abigail  de  Noyon 
had  heard  at  intervals  from  their  son,  and  that  Rene  had  in- 


MY    HUNT    lOR   THE   CAI'TIVES. 


22  I 


formed  his  mother  of  his  grandfather's  death.  His  unele 
John  must  also  have  notified  his  brothers  and  sisters  in  Can- 
ada of  the  conditions  of  their  father's  will.  yVfter  much  talk, 
Abigail  decided  to  accompany  her  brother  Samuel  to  Deer- 
field.  It  was  certainly  no  mercenary  motive  that  led  her  to 
undertake  such  a  journey  under  the  circumstances.  Five 
shillings  was  to  be  her  dole  if  she  returned  to  Canada,  and 
to  husband  and  children  she  must  return.  But  her  heart 
yearned  for  the  boy  from  whom  she  had  been  separated  for 
years.  She  longed — who  does  not  ?— to  revisit  the  home  of 
her  childhood  and  to  see  her  old  mother  once  more  before 
she  died.  How  or  when  the  journey  was  performed,  how 
long  the  visit  lasted,  and  what  was  her  escort  on  her  return 
to  Canada,  I  know  not.  I  only  know  that  in  Deerfield,  on 
the  27th  of  February,  1726,  her  thirteenth  and  last  child  was 
born. 

The  little  Marie  Anne,  "born,"  so  the  record  reads,  "at 
Guerfil,  in  New  England,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1726," 
was  baptized  at  Boucherville  on  the  5th  of  November  of  the 
same  year,  her  eldest  sister,  (labriclle  de  Noyon,  then  the 
wife  of  Nicholas  Binet,  being  her  godmother. 

Samuel  Stebbins  remained  in  Deerfield. 

At  the  marriage  of  one  of  Abigail  de  Noyon "s  daughters 
at  Boucherville  in  1731,  Nicolas  Binet  and  Joseph  Stebbins, 
uncle  of  the  bride,  both  from  the  parish  of  Chambly,  appear 
as  witnesses. 

Abouc  '734  Joseph  Stebbins  married  Marguerite  vSanssou- 
cy.  He  died  the  23d  of  April,  1753,  aged  fifty-two.  Their 
descendants  stih  live  in  Chambly.  Marie  Chauvin,  the 
mother  of  Jacques  de  Noyon,  died  in  1723,  the  same  year  as 
his  wife's  father. 

Abigail  de  Noyon,  born  Abigail  Stebbins  of  Deerfield,  died 
at  the  age  of  sixty,  and  was  buried  at  Boucherville,  on  the 
15th  of  November,  17^0.     Her  husband,  Jacques  de  Noyon, 


*mmm 


2'>'> 


TRUE    STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


aged  about  seventy-eig-ht,  was  buried  on  the    12th  of  May, 
»745- 

Here  ended  my  hunt  after  the  captives.  It  was  as  if  I 
had  laid  the  ghosts  of  unburied  shades  that  had  wandered, 
restless,  haunting  my  whole  life.  It  was  a  sad  satisfaction 
to  find  that  these  offsets  from  the  first  planting  of  Deerfield, 
though  rudely  transplanted,  had  not  been  utterly  blasted  ; 
that  when  the  sting  of  their  first  grief  was  over,  these  young 
men  and  maidens  in  their  turn  had  loved,  married,  reared 
children,  founded  homes,  and  at  length  rested  in  peace. 


TWO    CAPTIVES. 


A    ROMANCE   OF    REAI,    FJKE,    TWO    IIUXDRED    YEARS   AGO. 


The  name  of  Somers  Islands,  corrupted  in  our  time  to 
"Summer  Islands,"  was  given  to  the  Bermudas,  not,  as  many- 
suppose,  on  account  of  their  genial  climate,  but  because  of 
the  shipwreck  therein  1610  of  Sir  George  Somers  and  his 
companions  on  a  voyage  to  Virginia.  Up  to  that  time, 
doubtless  because  of  their  dangerous  coast,  the  "still  vexed 
Bermoothes,"  had  been  known  to  the  English  as  the  "He  of 
Divels,'    and    reputed    a   most    prodigious    and    inchanted 

pl'^ce never   inhabited    by  any  Christian  or  Heathen 

people." 

The  report  of  the  shipwrecked  men  who  dwelt  nine  months 
upon  the  islands,  enjoying  the  balmy  air,  and  finding  the 
soil  "abundantly  fruitful  of  all  fit  necessaries  for  the  susten- 
tation  and  preservation  of  man's  life,"  removed  all  fears  of 
the  He  of  Divels  from  the  minds  of  the  venturous  youth  of 
England. 

Sir  George  Somers  sold  his  claim  to  the  Bermudas,  to  a 

'Pamphlet    by   Silvester  Jourdan,    published    in   London,    1610.      "A    Dis- 
cription  of  the  Bermudas  otherwise  called  the  He  of  Divels." 


mmmrnun 


■nm 


224  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty,  who  j^i^ot  a  charter  for 
their  settlement  and  in  1612,  sent  out  sixty  settlers.  During 
the  jivil  war  in  England,  and  immediately  after,  many  per- 
sons took  refu<^e  there.  The  poet  Waller  invested  money 
in  Bermuda  land,  and  ]\lr.  lulmund  (iosse  thinks  that  he 
wrote  his  poem  of  the  "Battle  of  the  vSummer  Islands"  as  an 
advertisement  of  his  plantation  to  his  rich  and  noble  friends. 
In  exchange  for  the  products  of  the  Islands  England  sent 
cloth,  which,  says  the  poet, 

"Not  for  warnilh,  but  orn.Tnient  is  worn 

Such  is  the  irmuUi,  that  the  blest  tenant  feeds, 
On  precious  fruits, — and  pays  his  rent  in  weeds; 

With  candy'd  plantain,  and  the  juicy  pine, 
On  choicest  melons,  and  sweet  t'l'rapes  they  dine. 

And  with  Potatoes  feed  their  wanton  swine. 


Tobacco  is  the  worst  of  weeds  which  they 
To  English  landlords,  as  their  tribute  pay, 


So  sweet  the  air, — so  moderate  the  clime. 

None  sickly  lives,  or  dies  before  his  time  ; 
For  the  kind  spring  which  but  salutes  us  here. 

Inhabits  there,  and   courts  them  all  the  year." 

Dear  to  the  student  of  New  England  genealogies  is  a  book 
entitled  "Original  Lists  of  Persons  of  Quality,  Emigrants, 
Religious  Exiles,  Political  Rebels,  Serving  men  sold  for  a 
term  of  years,  Apprentices,  Children  stolen,  Maidens  pressed 
and  others,  who  went  from  Great  Britain  to  the  American 
Plantations  from  1600  to  1700."  According  to  this  book,  on 
the  13th  day  of  September,  1635,  the  good  ship  Dorset, 
John  Flower,  Master,  weighed  anchor  at  London  "bound  for 
y''  Bermodas."  Aboard  her  was  a  motley  company,  ninety- 
five  passengers  all  told.  Full  half  were  lads  under  eight- 
een. Eight  had  already  reached  that  important  age.  The 
rest  were  mostly  young  men  under  thirty-five,  half  a  dozen 
of  whom  were  accompanied  by  their  wives.  Among  the 
passengers  were  two  ministers.  Rev.  Geo.  Turk  and  Rev. 
Daniel  Wite  or  White.     Two  linger  longest  at  the  stern,  as 


TWO   CAPTIVES.  225 


the  ship  slowly  leaves  her  moorincrs,  Judith  Haijlcy,  a  lone, 
lorn  woman  of  fifty-eight,  apparently  with  no  kith  nor  kin  to 
keep  her  company,  and  James  Rising-,  a  resolute  stripling 
of  eighteen,— the  only  one  of  his  name  discoverable  among 
the  founders  of  New  England. 

To  which  of  the  afore-mentioned  lists  shall  we  refer  this 
ship's  company  ?  "What  sought  they  thus  afar  ? "  For  lack 
of  present  knowledge,  I  shall  assume  that  love  of  adventure 
led  James  Rising  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  New  World,  and 
that  he  came,  apprenticed  for  a  term  of  years  to  labor  in  the 
Bermudas.  Of  his  life  there,  we  have  as  yet  no  details.  vSugar 
and  molasses  became  important  exports  from  the  islands, 
and  New  England  afforded  a  good  market  for  the  latter  ar- 
ticle, being  then  largely  engaged  in  the  distillation  of  rum 
from  molasses. 

"Att  a  general  town  meeting  held  at  Salem  on  the  20th 
day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  year  1657  James  Rising  is  re- 
ceived an  Inhabitant  into  this  Towne."  About  three  weeks 
later,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1657,  he  married  at  Boston,  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Robert  Hinsdell,  the  sturdy  pioneer  of 
Dedham,  Medfield  and  Deerfield.  I  conclude  that  he  prob- 
ably chose  vSalem  as  his  home  in  New  England,  as  being  a 
port  of  entry  for  ships,  freighted  with  the  products  of  the 
islands.  He  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  First  Church 
in  Salem,  on  the  22nd  day  of  the  i  ith  month,  1661,'  by  a  let- 
ter from  his  Pastor  Wite  or  Wliite  of  the  church  in  Bermu- 
da. On  the  20th  day  of  the  2nd  month,  i663,''^  his  daughter 
Hannah  was  baptized  in  the  First  Church  of  Salem.  Whether 
his  two  sons  James  and  John,  were  older  or  younger  than 
their  sister  is  unknown. 

Windsor,  Conn.,  was  at  that  time  a  leading  commercial 
town,  and  carried  on  an  extensive  trade  with  the  West  In- 

'Jan.  20.  (3.  S.  i^April  20.  O.  S. 


*--'■— ""IIWIH— III 


226  TKUK    SIORiKS    i)V    NKW     KNGI-ANI)    CAI'TIVKS. 

dies  and  adjacent  islands.  There  was  no  bridge  at  Hartford, 
and  Windsor  became  a  noted  port  of  entry,  not  o  dy  for 
coasters  and  West  India  vessels,  but  for  iCny;Hsh  ships.  The 
river  was  at  all  times  full  of  vessels  loadinj^  and  unloading 
there,  and  "Windsor  <,jreen,  often  heaped  with  goods''  await- 
ing storag'e  or  transportation,  "was  lively  with  jovial  sea 
captains"  and  sunburned  sailors.  Makinj^  and  shippinj^  pip<^- 
staves  was  an  important  industry  of  this  vicinity,  and  James 
Risinj^  may  have  wished  to  add  this  branch  of  trade  to  his 
business.  However  this  may  be,  he  was  "voted  an  inhabi- 
tant of  Windsor,"  on  March  iith,  1668,  and  the  next  year 
he  was  formally  dismissed  by  letter  from  the  church  of  vSa- 
lem  to  that  of  Windsor.  There  his  wife  died  on  the  1  ith  of 
August,  1669.  Four  years  later  he  married  the  Widow  Mar- 
tha Bartlett,  who  died  in  less  than  a  vcar  after  her  marriage. 
It  is  said  that  he  kept  the  ferry  at  Windsor.  To  the  contri- 
bution made  by  that  town  to  the  sufferers  from  Philip's  war 
in  other  colonies,  James  Rising  gave  five  shillings,  his  son 
John  one  shilling  and  sixpence,  and  his  daughter  Hannah, 
one  and  three  pence. 

The  same  year  a  grant  of  fifty  acres  was  allotted  to  him  in 
Suffield,  and  in  i6Sj  as  a  proprietor  he  voted  at  the  organi- 
zation of  that  town.  There  in  16S8  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
one  he  died. 

Of  his  daughter  Hannah  nothing  more  appears.  His  son 
James  died  unmarried  two  years  after  the  father's  death, 
being  taken  care  of  in  his  last  illness  by  his  brother  John, 
who  inherited  his  estate. 

John  Rising  lived  at  vSuffield.  His  first  wife  was  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Timothy  Hale  of  Windsor.  By  her  he  had  nine 
children.  Josiah,  their  seventh  child,  was  born  Feb.  2nd, 
1694.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  four  years  old,  and 
his  father  soon  married  again.  The  stepmother,  burdened 
with  the  care  of  a  house  full  of  children,  the  eldest  of  whom 


TWO    CAI'TIVKS 


227 


was  but  fourteen,  pr(>l\'ib1y  fouml  little  Josiah,  a  robust  boy 
of  five,  a  trial  to  her  patienee.  At  st)mc  unknown  period, 
probably  on  the  birth  of  a  new  baby  in  1702,  he  was  sent  to 
Deerfield  to  stay  with  his  father's  eousin,  Mehuman  llinsdell. 

Leaving  little  Josiah  Rising  with  his  eousins  in  Deerfield, 
we  must  go  baek  and  take  up  another  thread  of  our  story. 

It  is  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  September,  1667:  the  day 
when  the  County  Court  begins  its  fall  session  at  Springfield. 
A  erowd  is  already  gathering  at  the  ordinary,  so  the  inn  of 
the  olden  time  was  ealled,  a  room  being  always  set  apart 
there  for  the  holding  of  the  eourt.  Men  with  pointed  Ijeards 
and  elose  eropped  hair,  in  tall  steeple-erowned  hats,  short 
jerkins  of  a  sad  eolor  with  wide  white  wristbands  turned 
baek  over  the  sleeves;  leather  belts,  broad  falling  eollars 
stiffly  starehed,  tied  with  a  eord  and  tassel  at  the  throat, 
hanging  down  on  the  breast  and  extending  round  on  the 
baek  and  shoulders ;  full  trousers  reaehing  the  knee,  where 
they  are  fastened  with  a  bow  :  long,  gray  woollen  stoekings, 
and  stout  leather  shoes,  broad,  low  and  well  oiled,  e()mplete 
the  eostume.  vSome  of  the  younger  men  are  in  great  boots 
rolled  over  at  the  top.  and  slouehing  in  wrinkles  about  the 
leg. 

The  women  are  in  steeple  hats,  not  unlike  those  of  the 
men,— and  Mother  Hubbard  eloaks.  Some  are  bareheaded  or 
wear  a  handkerehief  over  the  head,  with  white  kerehief 
pinned  straight  down  from  the  throat  to  the  waist,  white 
euffs  and  long,  white  aprons  eovering  the  front  of  their  gray 
or  blaek  woollen  gowns.  The  boys  and  girls,  miniature 
copies  of  their  elders,  except  that  the  boys  wear  woollen 
caps  with  visors,  and  the  girls,  close  fitting  hoods  of  the 
same  material. 

A  constable  ?rmed  with  a  long,  black  staff  tipped  with 
brass,  having  three  youths  in  charge,  forces  his  way  through 
the  crowd.     They  have  been  sent  by  the  commissioners  at 


228  TRUK   STORIES   OK    NK'V    ENliLAND   CAl'liVES. 


Northampton,  to  br  tried  and  sentenced  at  Sprinj^ficld.  The 
culprits  are  p.'de  and  cvidiMitly  frij;hlcncd.  The  face  of  the 
Niuinj^cst,  a  mere  child,  is  swollen  with  weepini;".  The  oth- 
ers, who  are  perhaps  sixteen  and  seventeen  years  old,  affect 
an  indifference  lo  their  situation  which  theii'  pallor  belies. 
It  is  easy  to  see  thai  the  eldest  is  the  most  hardened  of  the 
three. 

"In  sooth  they  are  not  ill  lookins^'  lads,"  said  a  .gossip,  "I 
marvel  of  what  evil  they  are  accused."  "The  little  one  is 
the  son  of  (loodman  John  vStebbins  our  foiMuer  neij^-hlxn*," 
said  another,  "He  numbers  scarce  twelve  summers,  yet  me- 
thinks  he  is  old  in  sin,  for  they  say  he  hath  entered  the 
house  of  his  stepmother's  father,  with  intent  to  steal  "  "One 
(iodfrey  Nims  is  the  rin^deader  of  these  villanies,"  put  in 
a  third.  "II  j  hath  conspired  with  the  others  to  run  awa\-  to 
Canad)',  under  the  j^uidance  of  a  drunken  Indian  varlet,  who 
hath  been  han<;-ino;  about  Xortluampton  of  late."  "It  is  be- 
lieved that  'loodman  Hutchinson  will  intercede  with  the 
Court  in  behalf  of  Henitt,"  added  the  last  speaker,  "he  hath 
lately  t.aken  the  lad's  mother  to  wife."  "Poor  boys,"  said  a 
youni;"  mother,  who  led  her  little  son  by  the  hand,  "I  hope 
our  Worshipful  mai;istrate  will  mercifully  consider  'heir 
youth,  and  the  shame  to  their  parents." 

"Our  magistrate  is  ;i  (rod-fcaring-  man,"  replied  a  stern 
Puritan  father  at  her  elbow.  He  will  deal  justly  with  the 
malefactors,  but  it  behooves  him  not  to  be  merciful  over- 
much. Our  youno-  men  are  getting  overbold  in  their  car- 
riage. Our  maidens  wear  silk  in  a  flaunting  manner,  and 
indulge  in  yxeess  of  apparill  to  the  offence  of  sober  people. 
They  must  be  taught  to  fear  Ood,  to  obey  the  law  and  hon- 
or their  parents." 

"Ay,  verily,  it  were  better  if  they  were  more  often  admon- 
i.shed  and  scourged,"  interrupted  a  hard-faced  woman,  "and 
for  my  part  I  should  like  to  see  a  .score  of  lashes  well  laid  on 


TWO    CAI'TIVF.S. 


229 


to  the  hacks  of  Ihcse  kna"cs  I  inisdoubt  if  thcv  pet  off  with 
less." 

The  entrance  of  tlie  niauislrates  and  jurors  put  a  stop  U) 
the  talk,  and  the  trial  proceeded.  The  story  is  told  in  the 
records  far  better  than  I  could  tell  it : 

"Sei)t.  24,   1667.      Alt  the  Coimty    Court    lioldcn   ;itt    Springfield, 
Capt.  Joliii  I'vMclioii  one  of  tlie    Honored   .Assistants  of  this  Colony 
presidinj,^,  "James    Hennett,  (iodfrey    Ninis   and    lienoni    Stebbins, 
young  lads  of  Northampton   being  by  Northampton  Cjjnimissioners 
IkhuuI  over  to  this  ("oiirL  to  answere    for    diverse    crimes  and  mis- 
deeds comitted  by  them,  \ve:i:  brought  to  this  court  by  y  constable 
of  y'  towne,  \v'''3  lads  are  accufed  by  Robert  Hartlett,  for  that  they 
gent  into  his  house  t\V(«  .Sabbath    days,  ulu-n  all  the    family  were  at 
the   I'ublike    Meeting,  on  y^'  first    of    which    tymes,  they,  viz    Nims 
and  Stebbins  did   ransack  about    the    house,  and  look   away  out  of 
diverse  places  of  the    house    viz,    .'4  shillings  in   silver  and  7  sh.  in 
Wampum,  with    intention  to  run  away  to  the    ffrench,  all   W''  is  i)y 
them    confessed;  W ''  wickedness  of  theirs  hath    allso   been    accom- 
panyed  with  frecpient  lying  to  excuse  and  justify  themselves  espec- 
ially on   Nims    his    part,  who  it  sems  hath   been  a  ringleader  in  the 
villanyes;   Ifor  all  which  their  crimes  and   misdemeands   thi.s  corte 
doth    judge  y^  the   .said  3  lads    shall  bee  well    whipt  on  their  naked 
bodies,  viz   Nims  and    liennett  with  25  lashes    apeece    and    Benoni 
Stebbyngs  with  1  i  lashes  ;  and  the  said   Nims  and  Stebbins  are  to 
pay  Robert  Bartlett  the  Summe  of  4^  being  accounted  treble  dam- 
age, according  to  law  for  what   goods  he  hath   lost  by  their   means. 
Allso  those  persons   that    have    received    any  money  of  any  of  the 
said  lads,  are  to  restore  it  to  the  s"  Robeit  Bartlett.     But  their  be- 
ing made   to   the    Corte    an    earneft  pitition    &  request  by  Ralph 
Hutchinson,  father  in  law  to  y"  .said  Bennet,  and  diverse  other  con 
siderable    persons,    that   the  said    Bennett's  corporall  punishment 
might   be   released,    by    reason    of  his    mother's    weaknese,  who  it 
seemed  may  suffer  much    inconvenience  thereby,  that    punishment 
was  remitted  upon  his  father  in  law   his    engaging   to   this  corte   to 
pay  ffive   pounds  to  ye  County,  as  a  fyne  for  the   said  Benitts  of- 


mi 


530  TKUK    ST()Rn:S    OF    \i;\V    KN'Cil.AM)    (  Al'TlVKS. 


fence;  which  5/^"  is  L  1  Ix;  paid  to  yc  county  'rrcasurcr  for  yc  use  of 
Sil  county.  Allso  joiiii  Stcbliins  Junior,  beinjf  much  suspected  to 
havj  some  hand  in  tiieir  ])lottinj(  to  run  away,  This  Corte  doth 
order  ye  ("ommission(M-s  of  Nortiiamplon  to  call  him  l)cfore  >'",  & 
to  examine  iiim  about  liiat,  or  any  other  tiling  wherein  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  Kiii'ly  with  y"  said  lads  and  to  act  therein  accordinjr  to 
their  discretion  attendmj^  law.  Also  they  ar<;  to  call  the  Indian 
called  Oneiiuelat,  who  had  a  hand  with  '"'  in  their  plotl,  and  to 
deale  with  him  according  as  they  fynd." 

The  three  tlioroiijrlily  seared  boy.s  were  sent  baek  the 
next  day  to  Nortlianipton.  1  here  let  ns  hope  th.'.t  little 
Benoni  wa.s  taken  from  the  j^ra.sp  of  the  law,  and  ptit  into 
his  father's  hands  for  ehastisenienl.  Bennett's  fine  was  paid 
by  his  vStepfather.  As  for  Godfrey  Nims  he  paid  the  j^enal- 
ty  of  his  misdeeds  at  the  whipping  post  m  front  of  the  meet- 
injy  house.  Alas  for  poor  (iodfrey  !  lie  lived  in  the  age  when 
a  spade  was  ealled  a  spade.  Lyinj^  was  lyinj^  in  j^ood  old 
eolony  days.  Nobody  thoiijj^lit  of  applying-  to  the  wild  boy 
the  soft  impeaehment  of  being  an  imaginative  youth..  The 
luekless  wight  had  no  indulgent  frienrls  to  plead  for  him 
that  "l)oys  must  be  boy.-"  and  that  wild  oats  must  be  sown 
Wild  oats  wcn-e  an  expensive  luxury  in  those  days,  as  poor 
(xodfrey  foun;l  to  his  eost.  1  )oiibtless  he  was  a  disorderly 
fellow,  yet  without  wishing  to  palliate  his  offence,  I  may  say 
that  he  was  without  the  good  innuences  of  a  home  life. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  his  having  father  or  mother,  kith  or 
kin  cit  Northampton.  An  active  and  excitable  lad,  with  no 
legitimate  scope  under  Puritan  rule  for  his  sur[)lus  energy, 
he  fell  in  with  the  Indian  vagrant,  by  who.se  tales  of  bush- 
ranging,  his  .soul  was  fired  to  daring  and  recklf,',''.'^  cleeds.  It 
is  of  such  stuff  that  picmeers  and  heroes  are  often  made. 

Another  turn  of  the  kaleidoscope  gives  us  a  better  [)icture 
of  these  imp^ilsive  youths. 

It  i.^  the  i8ih  of  May,  1676.     The  sun,  sinking  behind  the 


■|\\n    (  Al'l  IVI'.S. 


J3I 


western  hills,  throws  ;i  golden  j^low  over  meadow  and  river. 
The  llolyoke  ranj^e  is  already  in  shadow.  A  foree  of  about 
one  hnndred  and  forty-fonr  men  is  gathered  at  llatCield, 
awailinj^  the  order  to  mareh  a.t^ainst  Philip's  horde,  for  it 
was  now  the  "^enerall  voyeeof  the  people"  that  "it  was  time 
to  distress  the  enemy  and  dri\-e  them  from  their  fishinj^  at 
l*eskeompskut.'  Xearly  al!  are  mounted  ;  a  few  on  foot. 
Amoni^  the  volunteers  from  Northampton  are  (Godfrey  Nims 
and  James  Hennett,  eomrades  to-day  in  a  rij4;hteous  eause. 
Nims  as  nsual  with  a  dare-devil  look  in  his  eyes,  resolute, 
eareless  and  ready  for  any  fate;  liennett  more  serious  and 
sul)dued.  The  Reverend  IIo])e  Atherton,  ehajjlain  of  the 
exj)edition,  pours  out  his  soul  in  prayer  for  the  little  army, 
and  the  eavaleade  moves  northward.  Who  at  that  mcmient 
remembered  tin  youthful  eseapade  of  (Godfrey  Nims  and 
James  Ik'nu; It.--  .Surely  not  Mary  iJrouj^hton,  who  stoot! 
.sobbinj^-  amon^-  the  women  that  watehed  their  departure. 
Slie  had  married  liennett  in  1674,  n  )i  jon^r  after  she  herself, 
had  had  a  brush  with  the  ma^'istrates.  At  the  Mareh  Court""* 
of  167^,  held  at  Xorthampton  by  Worshipful  John  Pynehon, 
Captain  llolyoke  and  Deaeon  Chapin,  Maid  Mary  Brou^htoii 
had  been  severely  admonished,  and  lined  ten  shillinj^s  f(jr 
weariu}^  a  silk  hood  orsearf  eontrary  to  law.  A  synipathetic 
revolt  aj^ainst  Puritan  di.sei])line  may  have  attraeted  Bennett 
and  Mary  Brou.i^hton  to  each  other.  Their  happiness  wa.s 
short-lived.  On  Saturday  Nims  brouj^ht  her  the  sad  news 
that  liennett  h;id  been  killed  in  the  Falls  figdit.  In  the  spring 
of  1^)77,  th('  younj^  widow  married  iienoni  vStebbins,  her  hus- 
band's dearest  friend,  another  of  the  trio  of  bad  beys  of 
.\orthampt(/n.  Soon  after  his  marriaj^e  Henoni  cuebbins 
joined  Ouentin  Stoekwell  and  several  other  bold  men  who 

'Now  Tiiriifi-'s  l'"alls, 

'^Courls  were  liuld  in  March   it  Nurth-iiiipluii,     lul    in    September  ai  Spring- 
field. 


232  TRUE    STORIES    OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

returned  to  Deerfield  two  years  after  the  massacre  at  Bloody 
Brook,  to  begin  a  new  settlement.  There  Stebbins  worked 
early  and  late  at  the  house  to  which  he  fondly  hoped  to  bring 
his  bride  before  winter  should  set  in.  At  the  end  of  their 
day's  work  on  the  19th  of  vSeptember,  1677,  they  were  sur- 
prised by  twenty-six  Indians  from  Canada  under  Ashpclon. 
Hurried  up  from  the  clearing  to  the  mountain,  they  found 
there  seventeen  people  from  Hatfield  who  had  been  seized 
the  same  day,  and  with  them,  began  the  weary  march  to 
Canada.  They  were  the  first  to  follow  that  woful  road,  trav- 
elled later  by  so  many  New  P^ngland  captives.  Crossing  and 
recrossing  the  Connecticut,  they  journeyed  rapidly  by  day. 
At  night  they  lay  stretched  on  their  backs  upon  the  ground, 
a  rope  about  their  necks,  arms  and  legs  extended  and  tied 
to  "stakes  so  that  they  could  stir  nowayes."  Halting  thirty 
miles  above  Northfield,  Ashpelon  sent  Benoni  Stebbins  back 
towards  Lancaster,  to  notify  a  part  of  his  band  to  join  him 
on  the  Connecticut.  On  the  return,  vStebbins  escaped  on  the 
2nd  of  October  and  reached  Hadley  in  safety.  His  own  ac- 
count taken  down  in  writing  on  the  6th  by  the  postmaster 
of  Northampton,  says  that  "being  sent  out  with  two  squaws 
and  a  mare  to  pick  huckleberries,  he  "got  upon  the  mare 
and  rid  till  he  tired  the  mare,  then  ran  on  foot,  and  so  es- 
caped, being  two  days  and  a  half  without  victuals." 

Notwithstanding  the  sorrows  and  perils  that  so  beset  the 
life  of  Mary  Broughton,  her  high  spirit  seems  not  to  have 
been  crushed.  The  following  from  the  Court  Records  of 
March  -J,  1678,  shows  that  she  never  yielded  a  woman's 
right  to  make  hersilf  look  as  pretty  as  she  could,  and  that 
;ihe  was  upheld  in  her  resistance  by  her  admiring  husband. 

"Mary  wife  of  Benoni  Stel)bins  being  presented  to  this  Court  for 
wearing  rilk  contrary  to  law,  and  for  that  she  agravates  it  by  per- 
sisting in  it,  when  as  she  was  once  presented  before  :  This  court 
considering  the  agravation,  and    how   unfit  such  things  are  in  this 


TWO    CAI'TIVES.  2^^ 


day  of  trouble,  did  adjudge  her  to  pay  a  fine  of  lo  shillings  :  As  al- 
so Benoni  Stebbins,  openly  affronting  the  court  in  saying  he  would 
not  pay  the  money  due  for  fees  to  the  clerk  of  the  Court;  this  Court 
ajudged  hini  to  pay  as  a  Fine  to  the  County  lo  sh.  forthwith,  and 
committed  him  to  the  constable  for  the  payment  of  the  aforesaid 
fines." 

Benoni  Stebbins  returned  to  Deerfield  at  its  permanent 
settlement  in  1682,  beeoming  a  prominent  eitizen  there,  and 
filling  the  highest  town  offices  ereditably.  to  himself  and  ac- 
ceptably to  his  neighbors.     Mary,  his  wife,  died  in  1689. 

About  the  time  of  Benoni  vStebbins's  marriage,  Godfrey 
Nims  had  wedded  the  Widow  Mary  Williams  and  become 
the  guardian  of  her  little  boy.  He  owned  land  in  Deerfield 
in  1674,  and  if  he  were  not,  as  tradition  declares,  one  of  the 
first  three  inhabitants,"  he  and  Benoni  Stebbins  with  their 
families,  were  certainly  among  the  earliest  permanent  set- 
tlers. Godfrey  Nims,  cordwainer.  appears  to  have  been  an 
industrious  and  law  abiding  citizen.  He  was  the  first  con- 
stable of  Deerfield,  being  chosen  in  1689,  and  later  held  oth- 
er town  offices. 

In  1692  on  his  marriage  to  his  second  wife,  Mehitable 
Smead,  widow  of  Jeremiah  Hull,  he  bought  the  lot  on  which 
the  second  church,  the  town  house  and  Memorial  Hall  now 
stand,  and  built  a  house  which  was  burned  Jan.  4th,  1693-4. 
His  little  stepson,  Jeremiah  Hull,  perished  in  the  flames. 
The  same  year  he  bought  the  adjoining  lot,  building  again 
on  the  site  which  has  ever  since  been  held  by  his  descend- 
ants. When  Joseph  Barnard  was  wounded  at  Indian  Bridge, 
and  his  horse  killed  under  him,  Godfrey  Nims  bravely  took 
the  helpless  man  upon  his  own  horse,  which  being  soon  shot 
down,  he  was  forced  to  mount  behind  Philip  Mattoon,  and 
"so  got  safely  home."' 

Immediately  tipon  Queen  Anne's  accession,  the  people  of 

'Samuel  Hinsdell  and  Samson  Frary  were  in  Deerfield  in  1670. 


234 


I'KIJK    SroRIKS    OF    SEW    KN(;i,ANl)    CM' 11  V1';S. 


Deerfiekl  bcj^an  to  make  ready  to  meet  the  tem))est  from 
tlie  noi-th  which  Ilie\'  feh  to  be  im])en(lin<4-.  The  fort  was 
"rijrliled  U]),"  the  seliool  master  was  asked  to  lielp  tlie  se- 
leetmen  "in  wording  a  petition  to  llie  ^ovei-nor  for  lielj)  in 
the  distress  oeeasioned  by  a  prospect  of  war."  In  tlie  snm- 
mer  of  1703,  Peter  Sehnyler  warned  tlu-  ])eo])le  of  Deerfiekl 
that  an  expedition  aj^ainst  them  was  littin^-  out  in  Canada. 
'Phose  who  had  settled  at  a  distance  from  Meetinji;'  House 
Hill,  bej^an  to  sei'k  shelter  within  the  prdisade.  Twenty 
soldiers  were  sent  as  a  ;;arrison  to  the  settlement.  On  the 
8th  of  October  John  Xims  and  Zebediah  Williams,  son  and 
stepson  of  (lodfrey  Nims,  while  lookins^  after  their  cows  in 
the  meadow,  were  ea|)tiired  by  Indians,  and  carried  to  Can- 
ada. Such  was  tlie  alarm  and  distress  of  the  peo])le,  that 
they  ur^ed  their  minister  to  addi-ess  the  j^'overnment  in 
their  behalf.  The  letter  is  a  credit  to  pastor  and  i)eople. 
In  askinj^'  for  relief  from  taxation  as  the  fortification  must 
be  rebuilt,  Mr.  Williams  says:  "I  nex'er  found  the  ])eople 
nnwillin}.i;  to  do,  when  they  had  the  abilit\-,  yea  they  have 
often  done  abo\'e  their  abilit)-."  lie  spi'aks  of  the  "sori'ow- 
ful  ])arents  and  distressed  widow  of  ijie  poor  captives  taken" 
from  <hem,  as  rcquestin;^-  the  ^-overnor  "to  endeavor  that 
there  may  be  an  exchaui^'e  of  prisoners  to  their  release." 
Parson  Stoddard  of  Noiiliampton  also  wrote  to  (iovernor 
Dudley  in  behalf  of  Deei-field.  lie  tells  him  uhat  the  ])eople 
are  much  de])ressed  and  discouraj^ed  by  the  captivity  of  two 
of  their  youn^"  men,  and  asks  that  doL;s  may  be  trained  to 
hunt  the  Indians,  "who  act  like  wolves  and  are  to  be  dealt 
withall  as  wolves."  To  this  letter  dated  Northampton,  Oct. 
22,  1703,  the  followiu};'  postseri])t  is  added:  "vSinee  I  wrote, 
the  father  of  the  two  captives'  beloni^inj^- to  Deerfield  has 
importtmately  desired  mc  to  write  to  your  lOx'ey  that  you 
w'  endeavor  tlie  Redemption  of  his  ehildi'eii." 

'(iodfrcy  Nims. 


TWO  (Ai'i  ivi;s.  235 

Notwillistandinj;"  the  ^^cncral  uneasiiu'ss,  pi'ivate  affairs 
went  on  as  usual.  P.irlli,  niarriaj^e,  death,  like  time  and 
tide,  stay  for  nau}.^ht.  Wintei"  wore  to  sprinj^".  'IMie  soldiers 
were  still  billeted  in  the  homes  of  the  ])eo|)le.  The  minds 
of  all  \vi'i-e  tense  with  an.xiety.  'The  air  was  thiek  with 
omens.  Sounds  were  lieard  in  the  nij^ht  as  of  llie  tramj)in}jf 
of  men  around  the  fort.  Mareh  eame  in  like  a  lion.  'IMie 
village  lay  buried  in  the  snow,  the  i)eoj)le  in  sleep.  In  that 
hour  before  dawn  wiien  nij^ht  is  darkest  and  slumber  deep- 
est, the  lonj^-dreaded  storm  l)urst;  unexpeeled  at  the  last, 
like  all  lon^-ex[)ee'.c(l  events.  ( )n  whatawreek  the  morninj>^ 
l)roke  I  Henoni  Steljbins,  aftei-  (ij^htin^r  for  hours  like  a  ti 
\fci'  at  bay,  lay  dead  in  his  house.  In  the  soutlieasl  auj^le  of 
the  fort,  Oodfrey  Nims's  house  was  still  burninj.;',  three  of 
his  little  ^irls  somewhere  dead  anion;;"  tlie  embers.  His 
dauj^hter,  Rebecea  Mattoou,  aiul  her  baby,  slain  b)-  tl.'e  tom- 
ahawk. l'>bene/,er,  his  seventeen  years  ohl  son,  his  step- 
dau<4hter,  l^^lizabeth  Hull,  a^ed  sixteen  ;  his  wife  with  Abi- 
j^ail,  their  youngest  eliild,  about  foui"  years  old,  already  on 
the  mareh  to  Cana(L'i. 

His  o])posite  nei^libor,  Mehuman  llinsdale,  bereft  of  wife 
and  ehild  by  the  same  bh)w,— adso  a  eaptive,  with  the  boy 
Josiah  Risinj4",  his  little  Suffield  eousin,  whom  he  had  taken 
into  his  home  and  heart.  Did  (iodfrey  Nims  and  Henoni 
Stebbins  in  those  hours  of  liorror,  remember  how  in  their 
boyhood,  they  had  "i)lotted  toj.(ether  to  run  away  to  the 
ffreneh"  with  ()ne([uelatt  the  Indian? 

How  Thankful  Nims  and  her  family  were  saved  by  a 
snowdrift:  how  (iodfrey 's  wife  was  killed  on  the  mareh: 
how  Zebediah  Williams  died  at  Ouebee,  firm  in  the  Prote.s- 
tant  faith:  how  John  Nims  eseaped  from  eaptivity,  and  was 
finally  married  in  I  )ecrneld  io  his  step-sister,  Elizabeth 
Hull:  how  i'^benezer  Niins  eontrived  to  outwit  the  good 
priests,  who  were  faithfully  trying  to  secure  his  sweetheart's 


;  jiaa»a'".f!iSi'i.'!"j  'iu<iiij>^« 


236 


rkiiK  si'()Ki|.;s  01   Niav   I':n'(;i,ani)  cai'Iivks. 


conversion'  by  inarryinjjf  her  to  ;l  I-'rcncliin.-ui  :  how  Mt'hu- 
m;iii  Hinsdale  vnmr.  hack  to  Dcu.Miicld,  and  was  aj^-ain  "('apti- 
valcd  l.)y  yc  Indian  Salvages,"  aix;  inaU(;rs  of  liisLory.  UiiL 
what  of  Al)i};"ail  Ninis  and  josiah  Kisinj^? 

Up  to  this  moment,  from  llic  honr  when  cruelly  roused 
from  tlu;  innocent  sK'cp  of  childhoixl,  tliey  were  draj^-j^-ed 
towards  tlic  north,  over  the  siiowhound  meadows  and  icy 
river,  this  (|uestion  has  hei-n  asked  in  vain.  'I'hanks  to  the 
careful  records  made  at  the  timi'  by  Canadian  priest  and 
nun,  and  llianks  ajj^-ain  to  the  kind  heli)  ^riven  me  by  Cana- 
dian priest  and  nun  of  to-day  we  can  now  follow  the  fortunes 
of  tlie  two  ca])tives,  so  rudely  torn  from  home  and  kin. 

In  the  history  of  New  France  there  is  no  more  interestinj;; 
and  romantic  eliapter,  than  that  of  the  life  and  labors  of 
Marjruerite  liourj^eois.  To  brino-  about  the  conversion  of 
the  .savaj>^es  by  ^rivin^r  U)  their  children  a  Christian  education, 
was  her  dearest  wish.  Not  only  literally  but  fii^uratively 
did  she  plant  the  cro.ss  on  the  mountain  of  Montreal.'  [n 
1676,  the  priests  of  Saint-Snlpice  built  a  chajjel  on  the  moun- 
tain and  founded  there  a  mission  for  such  Inxjuois  and 
others,  as  wished  to  settle  on  the  island  of  Montreal.  In 
1680,  soon  after  the  school  for  Indian  lioys  was  bej^un  at  the 
mission  of  the  mountain,  Marj^uerite  liourj^eois  sent  two 
nuns  of  the  Conji^reji^ation  there  to  teach  the  j^-irls. 

In  1685  forty  Indian  j,nrls  were  in  traininjr  at  this  school. 
It  takes  but  a  moment  to  tell  the  story,  but  the  ])ain,  peril 
and  privation,  the  self-a1)nej,^ation,  the  devotion  by  which 
this  resnlt  was  achieved,  cannot  be  estimated.  This  Indian 
village,  palisaded  to  protect  the  Christianized  Iroquois  from 
le  attacks  of  their  savage  brethren,  who  were  incensed 
against  the  converts,  was  an  out-post  of  defence  for  Montreal 
itself.     Destroyed  by  fire  in    1694,  through  the  carelessness 

'Sara  Hoyt. 

'Vie  de  Marguerite  Bourgeois,  Tome  I,  p.  274. 


I  wo    (  AITIVKS. 


!.^7 


of  ;i  (Iniiikcii  Indian,  the  fori  was  rchnilL  of  slonc,  with  iinh; 
towers  al  eacli  an^lc,  Iwo  of  whic:h  were  set  apart  for  the 
nuns  and  tlieir  school. 

In  1701,  distnrhed  by  the  o|)i)oii n nity  an'ordcd  tin'  Indians 
by  llieir  nearness  lo  the  town  of  ohtainin;.;-  stron.i^'  li'|nois, 
yet  tinwillinj;-  to  deprive  Montreal  of  their  lieli)  in  ease;  of 
attaek  from  their  enemies,  the  j)ri(;sts  i-emoved  the  mission 
to  the  other  side  of  the  mountain,  to  a  pietnresfjne  spot 
called  Sanll  an  RcMjoIlet,  on  the  bank  of  the  Riviere  des 
Prairies.  There  they  built  a  ehureh,  modelled  aftei-  the 
Cbai)el  de  Notre  Dame  (!(■  Lorett(;  in  Italy,  anrl  a  house  for 
themselves  and  their  sehool.  The  Sisters  of  tlu;  (j)n<rvi'.<r:i- 
tion   also  erected   there  a  building-  for  theinselves  and   for  a 


school 


fo)-  j^irls. 


Th 


e  vulaj^e  and  mrssion  buildiUL''  wen;  en- 


closed by  a  palisade  with  three  bastions. 

It  was  to  the  vSruilt  au  Reeollet  fort  that  oui'  two  captives, 
doubtless  with  other,',  from  I)ec-r(ield  were  carried  at  once  on 
their  arrival  in  (Canada.  Tin;  ,s(|uaw  ( ianastarsi,  [)robably 
the  wife  or  mother  of  her  captor,  jrladly  took  little  Abigail 
into  her  bark  wij^wam,  and  josiah  Risin^i^  was  led  to  that  of 
his  Mac(|ua  master.  There  they  lived  in  true  Indian  fashion, 
rollin;^^  in  the  dirt  with  the  jxappooses  and  ])uppics  with  which 
the  villaj^^e  was  swarminjr,  and  cjuickly  catching'-  tin;  Irorjuois 
lanjrua^e.  To  Josiah,  the  sava^^es  j^-ave  the  name  of  Shoen- 
tak.Sanni  of  which  the  In-ench  cfjuivalent  is  II  liii  a  nir  son 
villai::c.r  Abijr.-iil  was  known  as  T.Sato^Sach,  which  ren- 
dered into  P'rench  is  "/tV/r  rciirv  </c  /'caii."''' 

'his  an  ititcresiini,'  fact  ihalSoeiir  Maru;  <ies  An^es,  the  I,;uly  .Superior  of  this 
tiiission  school,  was  herself  a  New  FCn^latid  ca|)tive.  She  was  Marie  (iencvieve 
Sayer  |Saywaril|  taken  with  her  mother  aixi  sister,  Feh.  5,  i0(j2,  al  V  »rk,  Me. 

•  'lie  has  lakiMi  away  his  village." 

•'"She  [licks  >,(jrii(lhiti)i  out  of  the  water." 

For  this  and  for  other  valiialjle  assistance,  I  am  indebted  lo  the  kindness 
of  Rev.  Pere  Cuoq,  the  venerahle  mission  priest  at  Oka,  an  adept  in  the  Iro- 
quois language,  and  of  more  than  local  renown  for  his  sch(jlarshiij.     '-•  a.   h. 


^JvssMi^.iM^ms7.r?rTisxm»^<^'^ri!^ 


238  ruiiK  sroKiKs  OF  Niivv  I';n(;i.am)  cai'Tivks. 

Tlie  lillli-  foil)-  \'c;its  old  ICnj^lisli  ^irl,  with  lici'  umoulli 
naim-,  her  pak-  face  and  her  yclh)\\'  hair,  did  not  lonj^'  escape 
the  notice  of  the  holy  sisters  of  the  mission.  The  I'ollowin;^' 
is  a  translation  of  her  I'reneh  reeoivl  of  l)a|)tisin  ; 

"()iillic  I  51  li  (lay  i)f  I  line  of  llic  y(\ir  1  704,  tin:  rites  ol  haptisni  have 
hccai  adiniiiistcrcd  by  me,  ilic  tnidersij^iicd,  to  a  lilllct  l''aij;lisli  {.(iii, 
named  in  her  own  counliy  Al)i).(ail,  and  now  Mary  I'lii/ahct  li ;  horn 
ill  I  )carli(:l(lc-,  in  .New  I'aij^land  the  ^^isl  of  May,  of  tin'  year  1700, 
of  the  uiariiaj^c  of  (icolfrcy  Niiid)s  cordwaincr,  and  of  McclaMc 
Sniccd  alsD  deceased,  I'lie  child,  taken  at  tlu'  said  placi"  the  'jlev- 
entli  of  Man  h  last,  and  livinj^  in  llie  wigwam  of  a  scinaw  of  the 
Mountain,  named  (lanastarsi.  Tlic  ;^<)d-mollier  was  Demoisidle 
I'lli/ahetli  I.e  Moinc,  daui/liter  of  Monsieur  ("liailes  I  ,(•  Monu;  es- 
(|uire,  iiai'on  dc  Lon^iicMil,  (  lievalier  of  the  oi'dcr  of  S.iinl-l.ouis, 
and  ca|)tain  of  a  (ompaiiy,  with  francois  Uonnet  who  says  that  lie 
cannot    sij^ii. 

Si^iu.'d  Marie  l'lli/al)i:Lli  l.)ni^ueiiil.      Meiiel,  |)rctre." 

What  the  nuns  of  the  Conj^re^ation  did  for  littU;  Abioail, 
was  done  for  Josiah  Kisino-  by  the  j^ood  |)i-iests  of  Saint-Sul- 
])iee  at  the  Sault  an  Recollet  mission,  lie  was  l)a])ti/.e(l  on 
tlie  ^.^rd  of  l)ecem])er,  1706,  heino-  then  about  ele\'en  years 
old.  'l''he  name  l^ji'uace  was  ji^iven  him.  and  it  was  ;is  Ij^nace 
Raizenne  on  Canadian  records,  that  1  recoo-nizcd  Josiah 
Rising. 

Picture  the  life  of  these  children  at  the  Indian  fort.  The 
dark,  cold,  smoky  wigwam;  the  scanty  clothino-  in  which  they 
had  been  snatched  from  home  all  raj^s  and  dirt,  replaced  at 
last  by  a  blanket  which  was  their  dress  by  day,  their  bed  at 
nit^ht;  coarse  and  unpalatable  food;  corn  pounded,  soaked 
and  l)oiled  in  unsavor)'  ])otta<4e;  roasted  pum])kin  a  rare  lu.\- 
ury.  Hettcr  times  came  for  the  poor  waifs  when  they  could 
^o  to  school.  'I'here  they  were  decently  clad,  for  Marg'uerite 
Bourgeois  knew  that  the  first  step  towards  Christianizing 
any  people,  is  to  make  them  dress  decently  and  to  inspire 


TWO    <  AI'IIVKS.  239 


Ihuni  with  ;i  love  of  vvoik.  "If  you  f.iii  iiitroducu  petticoats 
and  drawers  into  your  mission,"  wroU;  Monsieur  Tronson, 
"vou  will  make  yourself  famous;  nolhin;^"  would  be  more 
tisefid,  oj-  frau^^lit  with  hetter  results."' 

At  school,  they  learned  tosinj^and  ehaut,  to  read  and  write 
and  to  s))eak  I'rench.  'I'he  catechism  and  creed  were  tauj^ht 
in  JM'cuch,  as  well  as  in  ICn^^lish  and  Indian.  'IMie  ;^irls 
U.'arned  to  sew  and  knit,  I0  s])in  and  make  lact-.  The  boys 
were  instructed  in  carix'ntry,  slioemakin^',  mason  woi'k  and 
other  trades."'* 

I>nt  Sunday,  so  ;^1oomy  to  the  (diildren  of  i'uritan  house- 
holds, was  the  day  of  da)'s  to  the  j^ii'ls  and  boys  of  the  mis- 
sion. Then  Abij^ail  went  in  pivx'cssion  with  the  other  j^irls 
to  mass  and  saw  the  j^orjjfeous  altai-  cloths  and  vestments, 
and  the  candles  l>urnin^-  bi-i;^litly,  and  the  |)i<turcs  of  the 
saints,  and  little  Jesus  and  his  mother  lookin;^  kindly  down 
upon  hei".  She  sat  close  lo  Sistt-r  des  Anj^'cs,  and  crossed 
her.self  and  said  her  prayers,  and  \\:\\.  very  <^()(h\  and  very 
ha])py;  only  she  wished  tliat  ShoeiitakSanni  would  just  look 
at  her;  but  he  sat  amon^'  the  choir  boys  and  san^'  away  and 
never  lifted  his  eyes  from  his  book. 

I  like  to  think  of  the  busy  school  days  and  cheerful  Sun- 
days of  the  little  New  ICnj^land  cajjtives,  thus  cared  for  by 
gentle  nun  and  kindly  jjriest.  We  must  not  for;j;"et,  how- 
ever, that  the  "Oso"  fort,'  as  the  New  ICn^land  cajjtives 
called  the   fort  at  .Sault  au    Recollet,  had  its  sadder  pictures. 

Sometimes  an  Intaan  would  come  back  from  the  town,  en- 
ra;j;"ed  by  the  white  man's  fire-water,  and  brinj^'in;^  the  news 

'I.cltii;  (h;  M.  Troiisoii  ;i  M.  t\t:  IkHiiioiii,  April  15,  1O85,  in  "Vicdi;  Mar- 
miciilc  Houi^^cdis,"  Vol.   I,  |):Llt   11,  |).   2.Sr). 

'•'Vic  (Ic  .Marguerite  Hcnirj^enis,  Vol.  !,  p.iri  II,  p.  2H1),  'Zi)2. 

"The  I'rencli,  doublUrss,  spokcof  visiiiiig  this  mission  asKoinj("Aii  S.iull," 
[I'ronuuiiced  (J-so. )  llenee  the  ICiiKlisli  naturiiily  called  it  llie  "()s(j  I''ort."  A 
Newbury  captive  in  liis  narrative  calls  Saiilt  an  KecDllet,  "Sadrolielly,"  tlie 
nearest  approach  h(;  could  make  to  the  French  proiuinciation. 


jiL*.,^  ■..!:"*Ba,i;,tf»«.,^^.>,>-~^- 


240  VRDE    SIOUIKS   OK    NKW    KN'Cil.AN  1)    CAP  11 VKS. 

tluiL  soniu  "IJastonnais"  had  arrived  in  Montreal.  ICvcry 
incssenji^cr  from  onr  <;"overnnient,  no  matter  how  fai'  from 
Boston  his  home  mi^lil  be,  was  a  "Jiastonnais,"  in  Canada. 

Then  Abijj^;iii's  master  wouUl  threaten  to  earry  her  into  the 
woods,  and  (ranastarsi  wonkl  be  ver}'  eross,  and  eall  her 
Kanaskwa,  the  shive,'  atid  possibly,  j^'ive  the  child  a  slap  in 
the  faee, — for  she  had  <^rown  fond  of  TcSato^'Saeh  and  did 
not  mean  to  }j^ive  her  up  to  the  liastonnais  if  sheeonld  help  it. 
Sister  des  An<4'es  and  the  other  nuns  would  seem  distressed 
and  anxious,  and  kept  the  little  i^irl  day  and  ni_!.Hit  at  the 
eonvent,  out  of  sij^ht  of  any  possible  JCn^lish  visitors.  Abi- 
gail was  too  young  to  mind  mueh  about  any  of  this,  but 
Josiah  knew,  and  I  dare  say,  asked  the  sehool  master  if  he 
might  not  go  home  with  the  messengers.  At  this  the  priest 
would  frown  and  speak  sharply  to  the  lad,  reproaching  him 
with  ingratitude  to  the  Indian  who  had  saved  his  life.  No 
doubt  he  would  tell  the  boy  what  he  himself  sincerely  be- 
lieved, that  if  he  went  l)aek  to  Protestant  New  h^ngland,  his 
soul  would  be  damned  eternally.  When  Josiah's  master 
heard  about  this,  he  beat  the  boy  and  sent  him  off  to  the 
woods  with  a  hunting  party. 

Deacon  Sheldon  came  back  from  his  embassy  in  1703  with 
but  live  captives,  not  having  even  seen  his  boys,  who,  lie  was 
told,  had  "gone  a  honten.  '  Shortly  after  this,  bitterly  dis- 
appointed at  not  being  allowed  to  go  home  with  Deacon 
vSheld(m,  John  Nims,  Marti'  Kellogg,  Joseph  Petty  and 
Thomas  Baker  ran  away.  It  went  harder  with  Josiah  and 
the  rest  after  this.  luisign  Sheldon  must  have  have  kept  the 
Sault  an  Recollet  mission  in  a  stir  in  the  first  years  of  the 
captivity.  He  was  certainly  there  twice  in  the  spring  of 
1706.  Among  his  accounts  is  an  item  of  i2livres  paid  "for  a 
carrialP  to  goe  to  .see  the  captives  at  the  Mohawk   fort,"  and 

'Abigail  appears  once  on  the  records  by  Uiis  name. 
''A  carriole  is  a  Canadian  sleigii. 


TWO   CAI'TIVKS.  241 


"4  Hvres  more  for  a  second  visit."  Tie  probably  saw  Josiah 
and  Abij^ail  at  this  time,  but  they  were  not  amonjj^  those 
whom  lie  broiij^ht  home,  (irim  and  direful  scenes  our  two 
captives  .saw,  when  the  war  parties  returned  with  scalps  and 
prisoners.  Then  two  lon^  rows  of  savaj^es  armed  with  clubs 
and  hatchets,  were  formed  at  llic  j;ate  of  the  fort,  lietween 
these  the  weary  and  footsore  captives  ran  for  ncai'ly  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  the  savaj^es  mockin<;-  and  strikintj^  at  them 
as  they  ran.  Then  came  the  dreadful  pow-wow,  when  the' 
poor  sufferers  were  made  to  si!i<^  and  dance  round  a  ^'reat 
fire,  while  their  tormentors  yelled  and  shrieked.  The  chil- 
dren saw  many  of  their  Deerfield  neijj^hbors  brouf^ht  into 
the  fort  in  this  way.  Martin  Kello^'j;'  in  the  fall  of  170S, 
Josiah's  cousin,  Mehuman  llinsdell  the  next  sprinj^",  and 
Joseph  Clesson  and  John  Arms  in  June,  1709,  all  ran  the 
gauntlet  at  the  Oso  fort. 

After  John  Sheldon's  third  journey  to  Canada  in  1707, 
there  had  been  no  t^eneral  exchange  of  prisoners.  In  the 
.summer  of  1712,  the  Canadian  governor  proposed  that  the 
English  captives  in  Canada  should  be  "brought  into  or  near 
Deerfield,  and  that  the  French  i)risoners  should  be  sent 
home  from  thence."  (lovernor  Dudley  ordered  Colonel 
Partridge  to  collect  the  French  captives  at  Deerfield. 

There  must  have  been  some  excitement  in  the  usually 
quiet  town  of  Deerfield  when  it  was  known  that  the  French 
captives  were  mustering  there,  especially  when  the  dogged 
refusal  of  some  to  return  to  Canada  was  noised  abroad.  That 
Colonel  Partridge  met  with  some  unexpected  obstacles  in 
dispatching  the  French  captives  is  shown  by  the  following 
extract  from  his  letter  to  (iovernor  Dudley: 

Hatkiij,!),  July  1,  1712. 

"1  begg  yo''  Excellency's  excuse  &  tender  Resentnient.  OlT  our 
repeated  demur  &  delay  of  nioveiiig  towards  Canada  by  the  l''rentch- 
men    cV  o''  Messengers,  which  is  wholie  by  the  indisposition  of  the 


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242 


TRUE  storip:s  of  new  englaxd  captives. 


Frentchmen,  Especially  two  of  them,  who  will  not  be  p^suaded  to 
go,  neither  by  p''suasions  nor  force,  except  they  be  carried,  viz, 
Cosset  iV  Laffever.  the  Capt.  hath  used  all  means  with  them,  es- 
pecially Cosset,  in  so  much  that  I  believe  if  they  go  into  the  woods 
together,  they  will  murder  one  another  before  they  get  to  Canada. 
Cosset  positively  refusing  to  go,  Chuseing  rather  to  Remayne  a 
prison''  all  his  days,  as  he  saith,  rather  than  go  with  him.  The 
Captaine  vehemently  mad  with  him,  as  he  saith,  will  kill  him  tV 
its  thought  by  their  violent  treatm'  one  towards  another,  that  mur- 
der had  been  done  if  o''  men    had    not    p'vented    itt.     They  canni  * 

speak  together  but    some    fall  lv)  blows Laffever    has    been 

oposite  of  goeing  all  a  Long  &  now  it  comes  Loo  positively  op- 
poses it,  except  he  be  forct.  Yesterday  I  went  up  to  Deref''  &'  two 
of  the  Frentchmen  orderd  him  &:  the  I'Yentchman  to  attend  me  in 
order  to  their  goeing  immediately  aw.iy."' 

When  it  was  known  that  an  escort  was  to  be  sent  from 
Deerfieid  with  the  French  captives,  there  was  no  lack  of 
volunteers.     Colonel  Partridge  continues : 

"As  to  Messengers,  severall   offer    themselves  to    go We 

had  pitcht  upon  Ltt.  Williams,-  with  the  consent  of  his  ffather,  who 
hath  the  Frentch  tongue,  Jonath  Wells,  Jno  Nims  &  Eliezer  War- 
ner, but  haveing  in  yo''  last  letter  a  forbidd  to  any  of  Baker's  Com- 
pany, we  pitcht  on  Lt.  Wells,  Sergt.  Taylor,  John  Nims  iS:  Thomas 
Frentch,  who  also  hath  the  Frentch  tongue,  but  think  the  former 
most  apt 

I  have  had  no  small  fategue  in  this  matter,  buty*  disappointment 
hath  been  on  y^  Frentchman's  p'  as  aforesaid." 

On  the  above  letter  was  the  following  endorsement : 
"Co'U  Partridg  :   Honn''  Sir,  I  have  all  along  been   much  against 
returning  home  :  to   Canada  :   but    am    now    come  to  a  Resolution 
that  1  will  not  go,  except  the  Governor  with    yourself,  doe  compell 

'The  adventures  of  Cosset   and  Le  Fevre  as  well  as  those  of  Baptiste,  will 
be  narrated  later.  c.  A.  B. 

'Lieut,  Samuel  Williams,  a  former  captive. 


TWO   CAPTIVES. 


243 


me  to  return  ;  which  I  hope  you  will  not  do  ;  I  have  an  Affection 
for  the  people  and  Countery  ;  and  therefore  do  not  intend  to  lieue 
it  until!  there  be  a  Peace  ;  and  then  only  for  to  give  my  Parents  a 
vissitt  and  Returne  againe.  from  your  humble  serv't  to  command; 
this  is  I, a  ffeveres  words." 

The  party  under  command  of  Lieitt.  Samtiel  Williams,'  a 
youth  of  twenty-three,  started  from  Deerfield  on  the  loth  of- 
July,  returning  in  September  with  nine  English  captives. 

Godfrey  Nims  had  died  some  years  before.  Ebenezer  was 
still  in  captivity  and  Jonn  Nims  evidently  went  as  the  head 
of  the  family,  hoping  to  effect  the  release  of  his  brother  and 
sister.  I  judge  that  in  urging  Abigail's  rettirn,  John  made 
the  most  of  the  provision  for  her  in  his  father's  will,  as  the 
story  goes  in  Canada,  that  the  relatives  of  the  yonng  Eliza- 
beth, who  were  Protestants,  and  were  amply  prov'ded  with 
this  world's  goods,  knowing  that  she  had  been  carried  to 
the  Sault  au  Recollet,  went  there and  offered  a  con- 
siderable sum  for  her  ransom  ;  and  the  savages  would  will- 
ingly have  given  her  up,  if  she  herself  had  shown  any  de- 
sire to  go  with  her  relatives.  To  her  brother's  entreaties 
that  she  would  return  with  him  she  replied  that  she  would 
rather  be  a  poor  captive  among  Catholics,  than  to  become 
the  rich  heiress  of  a  Protestant  family,^' — and  John  came 
back  without  his  sister  and  brother.  About  this  time  came 
Abigail's  first  communion.  vShe  walked  up  the  aisle  dressed 
in  white,  with  a  veil  on  her  head,  and  all  the  people  looked 
at  her,  and  a  bad  Indian  girl  muttered,  "Kanaskwa,"  [the 
slave]. 

ShoentakSanni,  in  his  white  surplice,  swinging  the  censer, 
ringing  the  bell  and  holding  up  the  priest's  robe,  seemed  al- 

'Lieul.  Samuel  Williams  was  chosen  Town  Clerk  in  March,  1713,  and  died 
the  following  June.  His  headstone  may  be  seen  in  the  old  burial  ground  at 
Deerfield. 

'^The  inventory  of  Godfrey  Nims's  estate  shows  that  he  was  not  a  rich  man. 


244 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


most  as  grand  as  a  priest  himself,  and  it  ",vas  all  very  solemn 
and  very  beautiful  to  the  ehild.  That  was  the  summer  when 
Hannah  Hurst  of  Deerfield  was  married.  Marie  Kaiennoni, 
she  was  called  at  the  Mission.  She  was  seventeen,  and  Mi- 
chel Anenharison,  a  widower  of  thirty-two.  T8at.og<Sach 
heard  them  called  in  church.  She  wondered  at  Marie.  Sho- 
entak8anni  was  ever  so  much  nicer  than  Michel.  I  think 
Father  Quore  had  his  doubts  about  this  match.  He  urged 
Marie  to  leave  the  Indians  altogether,  but  she  declared  she 
wished  to  live  and  die  among  them.  Sister  des  Aages  heard 
her  say  this  often.  Father  Ouere  asked  Monsieur  Belmont 
what  he  ought  to  do  about  marrying  them,  and  Monsieur 
Belmont  .said  she  must  be  treated  as  if  she  were  really  an 
Indian  girl.'  Then  Father  (Juere  told  Thomas  Hurst  and 
Father  Meriel,  and  as  they  did  not  forbid  the  banns,  he  mar- 
ried them. 

A  year  passed.  The  treaty  of  Utrecht  had  been  signed. 
Peace  was  proclaimed  in  London,  and  a  grand  Tc  Dcnmsung 
to  Handel's  music  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  In  this  interval 
of  peace,  renewed  efforts  were  male  by  our  government  for 
the  recovery  (tf  the  English  captives  in  Canada.  Nothing 
daunted  by  the  ill  success  of  John  Schuyler's  mission.  Captain 
John  Stoddard  and  Parson  Williams  with  Martin  Kellogg 
and  Thomas  Baker  as  pilots  and  interpreters,  and  com- 
missioned by  the  government  to  negotiate  for  the  release  of 
the  remaining  captives,  arrived  in  Canada  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1714.^ 

It  is  a  long  and  tedious  business.  De  Vaudreuil  is  vacil- 
lating and  contradictory  in  his  promises.  He  shirks  the 
responsibility  alternately  upon  the  captives  who  have  been 
formally  naturalized;  upon  his  king  whom  he  fears  to  offend; 

^"  C/fie  Sauvagesse." 

''They  started  November,  1713,  but  were  detained    ten  weeks  in  Albany  till 
January,  1713-14,  on  account  of  warm  weather  and  weak  ice. 


TWO    CAPTIVES. 


245 


upon  the  savages  who  claim  the  ownership  of  many  and  who 
he   says   are  his  alHes,  and  not   his  subjects  to   command 
Finally  he  says  that  he  "can  just  as  easily  alter  the  course  of 
the  rivers,  as  prevent  the  priests'  endeavors  to  keep  the  chil- 
dren." 

The  long  sojourn  of  this  embassy,  its  influence  and  diu-ni. 
ty  undoubtedly  made  a  profound  impression  at  the  Sault  all 
Recollet  mission.  What  more  natural  than  that  Abicrail 
Nimss  captor,  knowing  that  the  English  envovs  were  insist- 
ing on  the  return  of  minors  and  children,and  feaVing  to  lose  his 
reward  if  general  terms  of  release  were  agreec;  upon,  should 
have  fled  >/ith  his  prize  to  the  Boston  government,  to  secure 
the  money  for  her  ransom  before  Stoddard's  return.  This 
he  could  have  done  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of 
Mission  priest  or  nun.  Moreover,  had  thev  known  his 
purpose,  they  would  have  been  pcnvcrless  to  prevent  its  ful- 
filment.' 

Whether  this  theory  be  correct  or  not  it  was  before  the  re- 
turn of  the  envoys  that  Colonel    Partridge  (mi  the  -8th  of 
July,    1714,  wrote  to  the  Council  at  Boston,    crivin^r  an   ac 
count  of  an  "outrage  in  the  country  of  Hampshire,"  a  Mac- 
qua  Indian,  having  brought  to  Westfield  and  offered  for  sale 
a  girl  "supposed  to  bean  English  captive  carried  from  Deer- 
held,  It  appearing  so  by  her  own  relation  and  divers  circum 
stances  concurring."     The  Council  at  once  advised  that  Capt. 
John  Sheldon,  then  living  at  Hartford,  should  be  the  bearer 
ot  a  letter  to  the  Indi.^n  commissioners  at  Albany,  demand- 
ing a  strict  examinatici  of  this  matter.     The  result  of  Capt 
i^heldon  s  mission  is  told  in  the  Council  Record.'^ 

"In  Council  Aug.  32,  1714.     Upon  reading  a  letter  from  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Indian  affains  at  Albany  by  Capt.   John   Sheldon, 

'She  had  not  been  lought    by  them   from    the  savage-she  was  his  bv   the 
law  of  war,  to  dispose  of  as  he  saw  fit.  ^    '^^ 

■^Mass.  Archives. 


m-tCs^i^'iff}. 


246 


TRUl':    STORIES    OF    NKW    KNCJLAND    CAPTIVES. 


messenger  thither,  to  mo  ce  inquiries  concerning  a  young  Maid  or 
(iirie,  brought  thither  into  Westfiekl  by  a  Macqua  and  offered  for 
sale,  very  probably  supposed  to  be  English  and  daughter  of  one 
[(Godfrey]  Nims,  late  of  Deerfield,  and  carried  away  captive,  the 
Commissioners  insisting  upon  it  that  she  is  an  Indian: 

Ordered,  that  Samuel  Partridge  Esq.  treat  with  the  Macqua,  her 
pretended  Master,  and  agree  with  him  on  the  reasonablest  terms  he 
can  for  her  release  and  then  dispose  her  to  some  good  family  near 
the  sea  side,  without  charge,  for  th  present  to  prevent  her  fears; 
unless  Capt.  Sheldon  will  be  prevailed  with  to  take  her  home  with  him. 

Paid  John  Sheldon  for  journey  to  Boston,  from  Northampton  and 
back  to  Albany  and  back  with  his  son,  17^,  i6s,  yd  for  time  and 
expenses. 

In  Council,  Sept.  20,  17 14.  Ordered,  that  the  sum  of  ^25.  be 
paid  to  Elewacamb,  the  Ad)any  Indian  now  attending  with  letters 
and  papers  from  thence,  who  claims  the  English  girl  in  the  hands  of 
the  English  and  her  Relations  at  Deerfield,  and  that  a  Warrant  be 
made  to  the  Treasurer  accordingly.  Also  that  a  coat  and  shirt  be 
given  s'^  Indian." 

"Here,"  says  Mr.  Sheldon  in  his  History  of  Deerfield,  'the 
curtain  dropped.  After  this  not  the  slightest  trace  of  Abi- 
gail Nims  was  found." 

Had  the  story  ended  here,  it  would  have  been  romantic 
enough  ;  but  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction. 

An  interval  of  eight  months  elapses,  and  the  curtain  rises 

again : 

ACT  I. 

SCKNE    I. 

A  marriage  in  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  de  Lorette,  at  the  Sault  an  Recollet  fort, 

ou  the  Island  of  Montreal. 

DRAMAI'IS    I'KRSON.K. 

Abigail  Nims,  aged  fifteen. 

JosiAH  RisiNc;,  aged  about  twenty-four. 

SoEUR  DES  Anges,'  and  other  nuns  of  the  Congregation. 

PeRE  Qu6r6,  a  Mission  priest. 

Iroquois  Indians. 

'Soeur  des  Anges  was  herself  a  captive.     She    was    Marie  Genevieve  Say- 
ward  of  York,  Me. 


TWU    CAl'TIVKS.  247 


The  ceremony  is  soon  ended.  Father  Qucre  records  it  on 
the  parish  register  where  it  stands  fair  and  clear  to-day. 
Here  is  the  translation  : 

"This  29th  July  1715,  1  have  married  I.tjnace  ShoentakSanni  and 
Elizabeth  TSatogSach,  both  English,  who  wish  to  remain  with  the 
Christian  Indians,  not  only  renouncing  their  nation,  but  even  wish- 
ing to  live  en  sanvai:;es,  Ignace  aged  about  twenty-three  or  twenty- 
four  years, — Elizabeth  about  fifteen.  Jioth  were  taken  at  Dierfile 
about  thirteen  year.s  ago.  [Signed]   M.  Quere,  pretre  S.  S." 

How  Abigail  Nims  got  back  again  to  the  Sault  au  RecoL 
let  from  Deerfield,  is  the  missing  link  in  the  story  of  her 
long  life.  But  what  more  probable  than  that  she  should 
have  run  away.  There  is  of  course  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to 
the  identity  of  the  captive  bought  of  Elewacamb,  with  Abi- 
gail Nims.  The  girl  had  said  she  was  a  Deerfield  captive  : 
John  Sheldon  and  Colonel  Partridge  believed  her  to  be  Abi- 
gail Nims,  and  had  satisfied  the  governor  and  council  that 
she  was.  They  had  bought  her  of  Elewacamb,  paid  for  her 
in  lawful  money  and  given  him  a  bonus  besides.  It  was  not 
strange  that  the  commissioners  at  Albany  "insisted  that  she 
was  an  Indian."  From  her  babyhood,  for  eleven  years  she 
had  lived  among  the  savages,  and  had  become  one.  An  or- 
phan, a  stranger,  not  knowing  or  caring  for  her  Deerfield 
relatives,  bred  a  Roman  Catholic  and  irked  by  the  straight- 
laced  customs  of  the  Puritan  town  and  church,  hating  the 
restraints  of  civilized  life,  homesick  and  unhappy,  pining 
for  the  nuns  and  for  her  free  life  in  the  wigwam  of  Gan- 
astarsi,  fearless  and  fleet  of  foot,  she  may  have  betaken  her- 
self to  the  woods,  and  somehow  got  back  to  the  Macqua  fort. 

Fancy  the  joy  at  the  Mission,  when  the  stray  lamb  re- 
turned to  the  true  fold.  It  was  then,  as  I  believe,  that  the 
priests,  to  settle  the  question  forever,  with  much  difficulty 
obtained  the  release  of  TSatogSach  and  ShoentakSanni  from 
their  Indian  masters.     "They  deserved  this  favor,"  says  the 


248  TRUE   STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


historian,'  "for  the  odor  of  virtue  whieh  they  shed  abroad 
over  the  mission  of  which  they  were  the  edification  and  the 
model."  Their  speedy  marriage  and  the  emphasis  laid  in 
the  record  upon  their  wish  to  c()nft)rm  to  the  Indian  mode  of 
life,  was  to  protect  them  from  future  importunities  for  their 
return  to  New  England. 

John  Rising  of  Suftield  died  Dec.  1 1,  17 19.  In  his  will  he 
bequeaths  to  his  "well-beloved  son  Josiah,  now  in  Captivity, 
the  sum  of  five  pounds  in  money  to  be  paid  out  of  my  estate 
within  three  years  after  my  decease,  provided  he  return  from 
captivity."  Josiah  Rising  and  Abigail  Nims,  his  wife,  never 
returned.  When  in  1721  the  mission  was  transferred  to  the 
Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains,  the  priests,  charmed  with  the 
edifying  conduct  of  Ignace  and  Elizabeth,  with  their  indus- 
try and  intelligence  in  domestic  affairs,  for  their  advantage 
and  as  an  example  to  the  mission  at  large,  resolved  to  estab- 
lish them  in  a  permanent  home  of  their  own,  and  accordingly 
gave  them  a  large  domain  about  half  a  league  from  the  fort. 

There,  they  served  as  a  pattern  to  the  savages  and  to  all 
the  people  round  about,  of  patriarchal  life  and  virtue,  by 
their  care  in  training  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  and 
in  the  faithful  performance  of  their  religious  duties. 

Abigail  Nims,  wife  of  Josiah  Rising,  died  Feb,  19,  1748.  In 
her  last  illness,  she  refused  to  leave  off  the  hair  shirt  which 
she  had  always  worn  as  penance.  She  left  eight  children, 
six  daughters  and  two  sons.  Her  eldest,  Marie  Madeleine, 
was  a  nun  of  the  Congregation  by  the  name  of  Sister  Saint- 
Herman.  Having  learned  in  childhood  the  Iroquois  language, 
she  was  sent  as  missionary  to  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Moun- 
tains and  there  taught  Indian  girls  for  twenty-five  years. 
When  about  ninety,  she  died  in  the  convent  at  Montreal. 

Four  of  the  daughters  of  Ignace  and  Elizabeth  Raizenne, 
married  and  reared  families,  many  of  whose  members  filled 

'Abb6  Faillon.     Vie  de  Marguerite  Bourgeois 


•|\V()    CAI'I'IVI'S.  249 


hig^h  positions  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  I  learn  from 
one  of  the  ladies  of  the  Conj^rei^ation,  who  was  the  pupil  of 
one  of  Al)i<^ail  Nims's  <ifrand-dauf^hters,  that  she  has  often 
heard  from  this  teacher  the  story  of  her  j^randmother's  life, 
and  that  she  always  laid  particular  stress  on  the  fact  that 
she  refused  to  return  to  Deerfield  when  sent  for 

The  eldest  son  of  Ignaee  and  h>lizabeth  was  a  priest  and 
Clin'  of  excellent  chara^ler  and  ability.  Jean  Baptiste  Jerome, 
their  younger  son,  unable  to  carry  out  his  wish  to  take  or- 
ders, married  and  settled  on  the  domain  originally  granted 
to  his  father.  His  house  'Aa-:  a  ^"cfuge  for  the  poor,  the  or- 
phan and  the  unfortunate.  He  regulated  his  household  as  if 
it  were  a  religic^us  community.  The  father  and  mother  rose 
early  and  prayed  together.  Then  both  went  to  their  respect- 
ive labor,  he  to  his  fields, — she  to  her  ten  children.  The 
hours  for  study,  for  conversation,  for  silence  and  for  recrea- 
tion were  fixed  by  the  clock.  All  the  family,  parents,  chil- 
dren and  servants,  ate  at  the  same  table  and  while  eating, 
the  lives  of  the  Saints  were  read.  After  tea  the  father  ex- 
plained some  doctrinal  point  to  children  and  servants.  Then 
followed  prayers  and  all  went  silently  to  bed. 

Marie  Raizenne,  born  in  1736,  was  the  most  distinguished 
of  Abigail  Niras's  children.  She  entered  the  Community  of 
the  Congregation  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  in  1778,  under 
the  name  of  Mother  Saint-Ignaee,  attained  the  honor  of  be- 
ing its  thirteenth  Lady  vSuperior.  She  was  deeply  religious, 
full  of  energy  and  courage,  of  extraordinary  talents  and  fine 
education.  vShe  is  said  to  have  possessed  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  the  real  spirit  and  zeal  of  Marguerite  Bourgeois,  and 
to  have  sought  untiringly  to  revive  this  spirit  in  the  com- 
munity of  which  she  was  the  head.  She  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six. 

Thus  again  did  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Deerfield 
become  the  seed  of  the  church  of  Canada. 


A  DAY    AT   OKA. 


General  Hoyt  in  his  "Antiquarian  Researches,"  writes  of 
the  Deerfield  captives,  "Twenty-eig-ht  remained  in  Canada 
and  mixing  with  the  French  and  Indians  and  adopting-  their 
manners  and  customs,  forgot  their  native  country  and  were 
lost  to  their  friends."  The  names  of  the  twenty-eight  who 
never  came  back  follow.  This  list  must  now  be  corrected 
by  adding  to  it  the  names  of  the  Widow  Hurst  and  her 
daughter  Elizabeth,  making  thirty  in  all,  and  I  doubt  if  the 
list  is  yet  complete.  We  may  congratulate  ourselves  to-day, 
on  having  found,  within  the  last  three  years,  eighteen  of 
these  exiles  from  home.  Would  that  I  could  tell  you  these 
tales  of  the  captives  as  they  might  be  told;  pathetic,  full  of 
incident,  and  glowing  with  romance  as  they  are ;  but  I  can 
only  transcribe  the  bare  facts  of  their  lives  as  I  find  them 
clearly  recorded  on  the  parish  records  of  many  a  picturesque 
Canadian  village,  where  they  lived,  died,  and  lie  buried  in 
nameless  graves. 

In  the  settlement  of  Deerfield,  home  lots  were  laid  out  and 
granted  at  Plum  Tree  Plain,  now  Wapping,  as  early  as  1685. 
The  little  colony  at  Wapping  consisted  mostly  of  young 
men  with  their  young  families,  nearly  connected  by  blood 


A    DAY    A  r   OKA.  25  I 


or  marriage.  Thither  came  Thomas  ilurst,  freeman  of  Hacl- 
ley,  with  his  wife  Sarah.' 

The  people  of  Phim  Tree  Plain  probably  removed  for 
safety  to  the  town  street,  where  Thomas  Hurst  died  in  1702, 
leavin<^  a  family  of  six  children.  Among  the  captives  of  the 
29th  of  Fel)ruary,  1704,  were  Widow  vSarah  Hurst,  then  about 
thirty-eight  \ears  old,  and  her  children.  The  youngest  was 
killed  on  the  march.  On  their  arrival  in  Canada  the  family 
was  separated,  some  remaining  in  Montreal,  Thomas  and 
Hannah  being  .sent,  with  .several  other  Deerfield  children, 
to  the  mi.s.sion  at  the  Sault  au  Recollet  or  Lorette,  on  the 
Riviere  des  Prairies,  cm  the  other  side  of  the  island  of  Mon- 
treal.* The  only  one  of  Thomas  Hurst's  famil /  who  ever 
came  back  to  New  England  was  Sara,  the  eldest  child. 

With  nothiiig  to  guide  me,  groping  laboriously  through 
pages  of  old  French  manuscript  in  the  archives  of  Quebec, 
in  the  portfolios  of  ancient  notaries  of  Montreal,  dead  and 
turned  to  dust  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  in  the  pari.sh  rec- 
ords of  both  cities,  finding  here  a  little  and  there  a  little, 
and  putting  the  disjointed  fragments  together,  I  had  nearly 
succeeded  in  rehabilitating  the  Hurst  family  of  six  Deer- 
field  captives,  when  1  .saw  that  for  further  knowledge  of 
Thomas  and  Hannah,  I  mu.st  seek  the  records  of  the  Oso 
fort.  These  were  to  be  found  at  Oka,  the  Indian  name  for 
the  village  of  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  on  the  Ottawa 
river,  whither  in  17.^0  the  vSault  au  Rec(jllet  mission  had 
been  removed.  By  early  morning  train  to  La  Chine'*  where 
one  drops  perforce  from  the  19th  to  the  early  17th  century. 
Here,  before  1615,  the  most  important  trading  post  of  New 

'Their  homestead  was  a  part  of  the  lot  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Josiah 
Allen. 

'■"'The  Oso  F"ort,"  it  is  called  in  the  narratives  of  New  Engl.and  captives. 

•'La  Chine  was  the  Seigniory  of  La  Salle:  China,  byway  of  the  great  river 
and  the  West,  being  his  goal. 


-aa 


25-'  rkl'K    sroKIKs    •)!•     m;\V    KNCMAND    (  AI'TIVKS. 

France  was  set  up  l)y  Champlain  ;  and  here,  to-day,  in  ^ood 
preservation,  stand  the  great  eobl)ie-stone  chimney  and  oven 
of  Chaniplain's  post,  with  the  broad  fireplaci;,  by  which  Rob- 
ert de  La  Salle  later  sheltered  himself  until  he  had  built  his 
palisaded  villaj^e,  a  mile  to  the  west,  on  the  land  j^-ranted 
him  by  the  <;entlemen  of  the  Seminary  of  .Saint  Sulpice. 
Opposite  me.  across  Lake  Saint  Louis,  as  I  stood  in  the 
ruined  doorway  of  La  Salle's  homestead,  where  he  must  so 
often  have  stood  lookint;'  loiij^inj^ly  westward,  were  the 
crumbling;'  ruins  of  the  .NL)hawk  fort,  where  ICuniee  Will!  ms 
and  other  Deerlield  children  sobbed  out  the  first  months  of 
their  eai)tivity,  and  the  low  roofs  of  Cauj^hnawaga,  the 
cross  gleaming  from  its  piclurcs'-iue  steeple.  Was  it  the 
wail  of  the  Deerfield  bell,  a  cai)tive  still,  that  (loated  faintly 
above  the  sullen  murmur  of  the  rapids?  Who  knows? 
Swan-like  our  boat  glides  on  to  .Saint  Anne,  Bout  de  I'lsle, 
Tom  Moore's  .Saint  Anne,  the  house  where  he  wrote  his 
Canadian  boat-song,  in  full  view  from  our  steamer.  As  we 
round  the  end  of  the  island,  at  our  right  loom  up  the  ^dne- 
eovered  towers  of  the  ruined  chateau  de  .Sennevilk,  the 
seigniorial  mansion  of  Jacques  Le  i]er,  "a  Canadian  feudal 
castle  of  the  17th  century."  While  in  captivity  .Samuel  Wil- 
liams, the  son  of  the  Deerfield  minister,  lived  with  Jacques 
Le  Ber,  a  rich  merchant  of  Montreal,  whose  chateau  was 
then  in  process  of  building.  Hack  from  the  river,  on  a  hill, 
stands  the  old  stone  mill  of  the  seignory,  not  unlike  that  at 
Newport,  R.  I.,  but  more  imposing,  from  its  solitary  and  com- 
manding position.  A  little  to  the  northwest  of  the  chateau, 
"Ottawa's  tide"  expands  into  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains, 
beyond  which  the  twin  mountains  form  the  background  of 
this  beautiful  picture.  Nestling  at  their  base  and  folU)wing 
the  curve  of  the  lake  shore,  is  the  C(")te,  or  village  of  Oka, 
as  the  Mission  of  the  Lac  des  Deux  Montagues  is  now  called. 
On  a  finely  wooded  point,  formed  by  the  double  curving 


lla 


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■-■.'(•/. 


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CHAMPUlN'S    'RADIN'.,    POST    A I     LA    C>HINE 

l.*TES  OCGUtlED  a>    ROBtRT  GAVHIER  DE  U    SALLE  1  j   -i 

'  i    .  M     'iii    ••?t':M'iT;:i  .       .'\s    Wi.: 
'     •  ■..'''      '    '     '"     i:  :*   I  !!■'     \-i  Hi- 


,  I    '. 


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.i        i:. 


'^   Nri  .  -  ;  Wii- 

■     '.v  (  lI;     [.'.«'" 

—  ■   '-•';.;.         ■va,,. 

li'v  '     ■■li  .!  hill. 

•''■  i;;:iiki/  !.h;u  at 

■^■i  "t  t!i'.'  cliutcau, 
'■■•''■''''?  t  !|<:' 'Cw  (>  Nifiuntains. 

•^^'  ''.^     I  '    'TM     ihv     1}.U  k'^V>    !:  ;,t[   i  ■( 
',..    ■'  '    '  ii"; ;     -  .1;  0   ■>  'ui    f<  n\'  nV\n:[ 

i  'lO      '■  '(!   .  .  'V     \'!  1  '-M,'-     ,('     '   ■:'   ■ , 

'^  "  ■    ^iv>::■•■t■.  •;•  s  i      .     ■       iUf/d. 


-'.'■" ''' 
.  •■  I- ; 


s«s2yiiix.....,.i  •      »j*«ji 


■H 


t 


M 


A   DAY    Al'    OKA.  215  ^ 


of  the  shore,  the  site  of  the   aneient   InHjuois   fort,  are  tlie 
mission  Imiklin^rs,  the  eliiireh  and  the  presbytery  or  priest's 
house.     The  eon  vent  stands  where  it  stood  in  1720,  l)ut  the 
eomfortless  bireh   bark   eabin,  tlien  oeenpied    by  Soenr  des 
Anjres,  and   her  eompanion,  the   two  devoted    nniis  of   tlie 
Con^rre^ration,    who    ^rathered   here    their  seh.x.l   ..f    Indian 
^nrls,    has   jriven    plaee   to  a  modern    jrray   stone   buildin^r. 
Here  another   Sister  des   An^^es,   with    two   assistants,  still 
teaehes  the  little    Indian   i^irls    their  eateehism.     To  her  I 
was  introdueed  by  a  letter  from  a  nnn  of  the   mother  house 
of  the  Conjrre^ration  of   Montreal,  whose   friendship  is  very 
preeious  to  me.     Being   herself  the   deseendant  of   a   New 
ICngland  eaptive,  she  takes  the  warmest  interest  in  my  work, 
and  does  everything  in  her   power  to  help   me.     We  were 
eordially  received  by  the  Lady  Superior,  who  would  not  hear 
of  our  going  u>  the  inn,  but  gave  us  a  room  in  the  convent. 
The  vSault  au  Reeollet  mission  was  the   Canadian   home  of 
the  two  captives,  Abigail   Nims  and  Josiah  Rising.     There 
they  went  to  school,  there  they  were  married  ;  and  that  their 
virtues  and  their  piety  might  be  an  example  to  the  neigh- 
borhood, they  were  granted  by  the  priests  a  large  domain 
at  the  ].ake  of  the  'J^wo  Mountains,  about  a  half  a  league  fnmi 
the  fort. 

"There   are    farms  in  Canada,"  says  Mr.  Parkman,  "wliich 
have  passed  from  father  to  son  for  two  hundred  years  "    The 
estate  given  to  Ignace   Raizenne,  by  the  gentlemen  of  the 
vSeminary  m  1720,  having  passed  from  father  to  son  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy  years,  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Jean  Haptiste  Raizenne,  great-great -grandson  of  Josiah  Ris 
ing  and  Abigail  Nims.     I  therefore  left  word  with  the  shop 
keeper  of  Oka,  that  if  Mr.  Raizenne  should  come  into  the 
village  that  day,  he  was  to  be  told  that  a  lady  who  could  fell 
him  about  his  New  i:ngland  ancestry  was  at  the  convent  and 
would  like  to  see  him.     In  half  an  hour  he  appeared,  and  I 


mgrnamnmrn 


254  TkllK    STORIKS    OK    NEW    KNfW.ANI)    CAI'TIVKS. 


am  sure  that  T  slirill  never  ajj^riin  be  treated  with  sueh  dis- 
tinetion  or  weleomed  with  siu;h  frank  hospitality  as  I  was  l)y 
that  simjjle  t'anadian  luxhitant,  of  whieh  class  he  is  a  line 
type. 

A  face  of  stron};"  character,  mobile  in  expression,  with 
])ierein}j^  black  eyes;  (|uick  of  apprehension,  alert  in  manner, 
rapid  in  speech  and  {gesture,  with  a  lithe,  aj^ile  and  nervous 
frame.  Naive,  unconscious  and  enthusiatic,  he  showed  the 
greatest  delij^ht  in  meetinj;'  one  who  came  from  the  homt;  of 
his  remote  iMicestry,  of  whom  he  is  very  proud. 

We  j^ladly  yielded  to  his  desire  th.at  we  should  j^o  with 
him  to  visit  his  ""propriclc."  I'Mrst,  iiowcvcr,  to  the  records. 
After  dinner  1  ])rcsentcd  myself  at  the  I^reshytery. 

With  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians  at  Oka.  I  had  had  an  in- 
terestinj^-  corresponclcnce,  yet  I  had  not  been  able  to  decipher 
his  name,  and  liad  I  known  that  he  is  a  savant,  considered 
the  best  living  authority  on  the  Iro(|Uois  lanj^i'uaj^c,  I  should 
hardly  have  ! 'resumed  to  make  such  demands  as  I  have,  upon 
his  time  and  Matience.  This  venei\ablc  father  is  as  modest, 
kindly  and  sii.  le  as  he  is  learned,  and  I  owe  him  much. 
The  j^reatest  are  always  the  simjjlest.  Oreat  poems,  o-reat 
pictures,  j^^reat  music,  and  j^reat  men. 

The  most  careful  reader  of  the  mission  records  in  Canada, 
finds,  at  the  outset,  an  impenetrable  veil  shroudinjj^  their  ])re- 
eious  secrets,  in  the  fact  that  the  captives  on  arrivinj^  at  the 
mission  with  their  savaj^e  captors,  were  adopted  into  Indian 
families,  receivinj^-  Indian  surnames.  Added  to  this,  at  their 
baptism  by  the  mission  priests,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the 
names  of  their  r^rench  s[)oiisors,  or  of  the  saints  of  the  Catho- 
lic church,  are  substituted  for  the  Ch  istian  names  j^iven  to 
theiri  at  their  baptism  in  New  linj^land.  It  is  only  by  the 
most  persistent  pursuit  of  i.solated  facts,  hints,  dates  and 
names,  thr"i.j^h  register  after  register,  collating,  and  compar- 
inj^  them,  that  one  finally  evolves  the  stories  of  the  captives. 


m 


A    DAY    AT    OKA.  255 


These  records  are  like  the  photog-rapher's  nej^ative.  They 
require  patient  and  skilful  manipulation  and  developing. 
At  first  all  is  a  blank,  a  haze.  By  straiiMng  a  little  in  one 
part,  restraining  a  little  in  another,  the  pieture  begins  to 
come,  and  when  it  does  come,  its  contrasts  of  light  and  shade 
surprise  and  thrill  one.  'i'he  photographic  distinctness  of 
every  detail  of  these  lives,  vvliich,  hidden  from  sight  for 
nearly  two  centuries,  are  now  suddenly  revealed  almost  takes 
one's  breath  away.  For  example,  when  I  first  struck  the 
trail  of  Abigail  Nims,  she  was  baptized  as  IClizabeth  in  Mon- 
treal and  was  said  to  be  "living  in  the  cabin  of  a  squaw  of 
the  mountain."  Of  the  Mission  of  the  mountain,  and  its  suc- 
cessive transference  to  the  Sault  au  Recollet  and  to  the 
Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains  I  then  knew  nothing.  As  [ 
chased  her  from  record  to  record,  the  little  I'^lizabetl  flitted 
before  me  like  an  elf,  appearing  as  ii^lizabeth  Stebin,  Eliza- 
beth Krinaskwa,  I'^lizabeth  Sahiak,  l*>lizabeth  TSatogcSach. 
When  1  finally  ran  her  down  as  IClizabcth  Naiin,  married  to 
a  fellow-captive,  Ignace  Raizcnne,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  recog- 
nizing the  two  little  playmates  who  were  livingopp(xsite  each 
other  in  Deerfield  on  the  morning  of  Feb.  29,  1704.  My  first 
clue  to  the  Deerfield  Hursts  at  Oka,  on  the  vSault  au  Recollet 
records,  was  the  birth  of  a  son  to  Michel  Anenharison  and 
Marie  Kawennaenni.  This  Marie  I  found  to  be  Hannah 
Hurst.     Doubtless  hei'  descendants  still  live  at  Oka. 

At  four  o'clock,  Jean  Haptiste  Rruzenne  drove  to  the  con- 
vent gate.  We  clambered  over  the  great  wheels,  into  the 
liabitcDifs  cart,  a  revised  edition  of  our  dump  cart,  and  tak- 
ing his  little  daughter  (ruilhelmine  between  us,  we  set  out 
for  the  old  homestead  of  Abigail  Nims  and  Josiah  Riseing. 
Though  it  was  October,  the  sun  was  warm,  and  the  sky  and 
river  a  summer  blue.  Leaving  the  village,  our  road  lay  over 
high  .sand  dunes,  the  rolie  of  some  old  sea  beach  of  the  an- 
cient   continent.     To  stay  these   shifting   .sands,  which  are 


ftm.i'i.g""'*' 


256 


IRUiO    STORIES   OF    NEW    KN(;i,ANl)    CAI'TIVKS. 


alike  an  ornament  and  a  proteetion  to  the  villa^i^-e,  the  Cure 
an  ntellii^ent  and  ag'reeable  man,  has  planted  on  their  sK.pes 
^his  year  forty  thousand  yoiMj^  pine  trees. 

As  we  ploughed  through  these  great  drifts  up  and  d  )\vn, 
there  was  no  sound  but  that  of  the  sand  sift\njr  throu<rh  our 
wheels  and  the  sad  murmur  of  the  pines.  At  the  foot  of  a  tall 
blaek  eross,  planted  in  the  yellow  expanse  of  the  plateau,  an 
oasis  in  the  desert,  as  it  were,  knelt  a  group  of  pilgrims  on 
their  way  to  the  mountain  ehapel  of  Calvary. 

As  we  struek  into  the  primeval  forest  Jean  Haptiste  began 
to  ehatter  with  the  volubility  of  a  Frenehman.  "  /  'oici  Id  pro- 
prictc  du  pauvrc  Ignacc!''  "This  is  the  estate  of  poor  Ignaee," 
he  eried.  "This  road  the  eaptive  made  with  his  own  hands." 
When  we  eame  in  sight  of  the  house,  his  exeitement  was  in- 
tense. ''2farc/u\  done  vitc!"  "Go  on  quiekl"  he  shouted  to 
his  horse,  and  to  me,  '']\>i/a  la  vicillc  maiso)i,  la  maison  d^ Ig- 
naee! oh,  que  Je  rai/ne!"  "There  is  the  old  house,  Ignaee's 
house!  oh,  how  I  love  it!"  And  it  was  ''voilcY'  this,  and 
''voila'  that,  and  finally,  ''Voilh  le  be'be!"  as  the  little  toddling 
thing  met  us  at  the  kitehen  door,  and  here  wt  were  under 
the  very  roof-tree  of  the  two  eaptives. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  deseribe  my  feelings,  I  was  dazed 
and  overwhelmed  with  memories  of  the  f-nr-off  past.  ISIr. 
Raizenne's  pretty  wife  and  old  mother  received  us  without 
embarassment,  and  urged  us  to  prolong  our  visit.  We  drank 
to  the  memory  of  the  eaptives,  and  to  the  health  and  pros- 
perity of  their  descendants,  in  wine  made  from  vines  origi- 
nally planted  by  Ignaee.  We  tasted  water  from  his  well;  we 
ate  apples  from  the  sole  survivor  of  his  orchard.  The  cli- 
max of  the  afternoon's  enjoyment  for  Jean  Baptiste  was 
reached  when  he  presented  to  us  his  only  son,  a  chul)by  boy 
of  nine,  named  Riseing  Raizenne.  After  taking  a  photo- 
graph of  the  place,  and  leaving  little  Guilhelmine  in  tears  at 
our  departure,  we  drove  back  to  the  village. 


I    .  .'^ 


gift 

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A    DAV   AT   OKA 

257 


des  Anges  not  to  condemn  ,Jr;     ^^^' ^^^'^^«:^''^  ^^lother 
outburst  of    „ir  k  '   :;;"""  '■■,""■  j-^  "•^"■■'">'  "'-^"1  i.y  a„ 

Oka.  The j;:: : ,^ : :,  .;r;;;:':  f ".-  -"^'k-  n„.  i  at 

the  doorsteps  of  the  convent  t-ilH,,,,  '     ^^  '■■"  "" 

The  soft  air  was  rertolem  "  t h  H  ^     '""  "■'"'    "''^  ■^'»'<='-'^- 

miifnonette  fro,,  the  ;tde:  ,e  o  v  nr'Tu"'  .'«^""'-!-  ■•"'" 

faee«famirror,retIeete<Uh,..n       ,        /"^"^  "™'-- "till  as  the 

der  the  Lombard  J  nop,      ;„'r''"''''''^^  I'n-  ' 

■-.sod  mission  pr  e  t  v"  Ike      LT   '"'"'Y'''''  «'-"""'''^-  "'« 

breviary.     Now  and  tht^u^^^^^^^^^ 

past,  on  her  way  to  say  h;r  evenit'  "''""'■  ■^"''"  ^''"^""y 
One  by  one  the  stars  oLne  „„  r*\, '  "f  '"  :'"'•'  ^''''"-^■ 
planet  left  a  silvery  wake  u  1  '  h  .  *-  '"'•''"  "^  ^  '^"'"«"' 
the  midsummer  nirtTw,V'    ?  f '"•■■■•     '''"^  «"""'='<»  of 

fish  at  some    wiftly  4  m'  ■':'"'  ""'>■,'''■  ""-'  '-'Pi"g  "f  the 
the   Indian   boys    and  the  Tf'  "'^  ■'^"^"""l  ™''--'^''  of 

glided  by  in  thef;  ^Tnlis       °"""  "'  '^••■"-  '»""'-■  -  they 

The    peaceful  beauty  of  fh^.  ,„i,^i 
quiet  of  the  village-  the  amvent      .t   .  "''"'  '  "''=  ''"'■'""•"o 

content;  the  sere^niiy  and      po"o7t'hr''''"''-''''""°'^-''''™ 
tranqnilHty  of  natnre      ,,,  ''"'"'^  °'  ''',<=  'ow  voiced  „„„s;  the 

dream  of  Heaven  "  ^"^""^    '°  ™'"^''  '"«  hour  a 

But  all  things  must  have  an  end  and  «n  „,■ 
day  at  Oka.     We  went  over  i,\,  '■"'  '"omorable 

to  the  reverend  fuher  Tnd  ""™'"^'  '"  ■'^'•'>'  ''•"•«««» 

was  undergoing  tXL'-hVgS'''-^''"  ''"■*^"^^^ 
open,  they  kindly  gLe  us  ^eJ^^^ZI^:::;^   -'^^^^ 


.,^t^»a 


TT'lfH^^^T 


25s 


T:\VK   STORIKS   ok    NKW    KN(il,ANl)   (  Al'TIVKS. 


cent  trees.  As  we  stood  with  them  for  a  moment  under  the 
cross,  beneath  which  is  a  cannon,  on  the  extreme  point  of 
their  land,  I  rallied  the  ciin' on  the  inconjrruity  of  a  cannon 
in  the  domain  of  apostles  of  the  Prince  of  I'eace.  "It  is  to 
shoot  Pagans"  he  replied  quickly.  "vSincc  that  is  its  use," 
said  my  companion,  "It  is  lucky  for  us  that  we  are  on  this 
side  of  it."  "But  mademoiselle,"  he  answered  with  ready 
wit,  "we  do  not  shoot  heretics,  wl  pray  for  them."  And  so 
we  said  good-bye. 


THANKFUL    STEBBINS. 


John  Stebbins,  son  of  John  of  Northampton,  and  jrrand- 
son  of  Rowland  Stebbins,  founder  of  the  family  in  Ameriea, 
was  one  of  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Deerfield,  Mass.,  at  its 
permanent  settlement.  He  was  a  earpenter  by  trade  ;  a  sol- 
dier under  Capt.  Lothrop,  through  Philip's  war,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Sheldon,  "the  only  man  known  to  have  come  out 
whole  from  the  massacre  at  Bloody  Brook."  His  homestead 
in  Deerfield  was  that  known  t'^  the  present  generation  as 
David  Shekhm's.  In  the  assault  of  Feb.  29,  1703-4,  his  house 
was  burned,  and  he  and  his  wife  with  their  six  children, 
ranging  in  age  from  five  to  nineteen,  were  carried  captives 
to  Canada,  whence  the  father,  mother  and  eldest  child  re- 
turned to  Deerfield. 

How  Abigail,  the  girlish  bride  of  Jacques  de  Noyon,— one 
of  three  Canadian  bush-rangers  unaccountably  living  in 
Deerfield  at  the  time  of  the  attack,— thus  doubly  a  captive, 
went  with  him  to  his  boyhood's  hon^"  in  Boucherville  ;  how 
later,  she  sent  her  eldest  child,  Rene,  a  lad  of  ten,  with  a 
hunting  party  of  French  and  Indians,  to  visit  his  grand- 
parents in  Deerfield  ;  how,  on  the   return  of   the   hunters, 


26o  TRUE    STORIES   OK   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


Renc'  stayed  behind,  and  grew  up  there  as  Aaron  Denio,  in- 
heriting his  mother's  share  of  his  grandfather's  estate  ;  how 
Abigail,  his  mother,  after  her  father's  death,  probably  ac- 
eompanied  by  her  brother  Samuel,  returned  to  keep  the 
twenty-seeond  anniversary  of  her  mairiage  and  her  eapiure, 
with  her  widowed  mother ;  how.  though  Deerfield  reeords 
are  silent  coneerning  the  interesting  event,  the  parish  priest 
of  Boucherville,  reeords  the  l)aptism  there  '  of  Marie  Anne, 
her  thirteenth  ehild.  All  this  is  a  twice  told  tale,  and  ro- 
mantic enough  to  bear  twice  telling. 

The  following  is  a  literal  translation  from  the  records  at 
Boucherville,  of  the  baptism  of  the  little  Marie  Anne: 

"On  the  5th  of  November  1726.  M.  Meriel,  Seminary  I'riest  of 
Ville-Marie,  in  the  presence  of  me  the  undersigned  priest,  ci/rc' oi 
lioucherville,  has  baptized  in  the  parish  church  of  Sainte-l'"amille  at 
Bc)ueherville,  Marie  Anne,  daughter  of  Jacques  Denoyons  and  (ra- 
brielle  Stebl)en  married  and  living  at  boucherville,  who  was  born 
on  the  27th  of   February  of  the  same   year  at  (nierfii  in  New    Kng- 

ianch     'I'he    godfather    was    JMerre    Arrivee the    godmcjther 

Gabrielle  Denoyons  wife  of  Nicolas  Binet  and  sister  of  the  infant. 

[Signed  ]    Meriel  Pretre. 

R.  de  la  Saudraye, 

Cure  de  Boucherville." 

Samuel  Stebbins  probably  remained  in  Deerfield.  His 
name  does  not  appear  in  Canada.  Of  his  young  brother 
Ebenezer,  nothing  has  been  "ound  later  than  his  boptism  in 
Boucherville  as  Jacques  Charles. 

In  (jeneral  Hoyt's  Andquarian  Researches  we  read  that 
"A  gentleman  who  recently  resided  in  Montreal,  staved  that 
at  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains,  near  the  motith  of  Grand 

'This  record  shows  that  Abigail  Stebbins  de  Noyon  was  d(,jbtless  in  Deer- 
field on  the  twenty-second  anniversary  of  her  marriage  there,  and  that  the  little 
Marie  Anne  was  born  there  two  days  before  the  twenty-second  anniversai-y  of 
the  massacre. 


THANKFUL   STEBBINS.  261 


River,  he  saw  a  French  girl,  who  informed  him  that  her 
grandmother  was  Thankful  Stebbing,  who  was  one  of  the 
captives  taken  from  Deerfield  in  1704." 

Since  the  day  of  her  capture  we  have  had  till  now  only 
this  echo  faintly  sounding  through  the  ages. 

One  October  day,  I  had  lingered  long  over  the  portrait  of 
Bishop  Plessis,  in  the  sacristy  of  the  parish  church  of  Saint- 
Rochs,  a  suburb  of  Quebec.  The  sunset  gun  boomed  from 
the  citadel.  Bror.d-hatted  peasant  women  chattered  noisily, 
as  late  from  market  they  bumped  along  homeward  in  their 
quaint  little  carts.  I  was  hu/rying  up  the  steep  zigzags  to 
the  upper  town,  when  I  saw  in  a  tailor's  window,  a  pile  of 
old  pamphlets.  Hoping  to  find  among  them  some  printed 
memorial  of  Plessis,  I  entered.  "You  are  then  a  bibliophile?" 
was  the  eager  question  of  the  handsome  young  tailor  in  an- 
swer to  miy  enquiry.  Without  waiting  for  my  answer,  he 
urged  mc;  to  visit  his  private  liljrary.  and  I  followed  him  to 
his  dwelling  above  the  shop,  and  was  ushered  into  a  long 
narrow  room,  with  bare  floor  and  no  furniture  but  a  common 
table  and  two  wooden  chairs.  The  back  of  the  kitchen 
stove  protruded  through  the  wall  at  one  end,  the  usual  ar- 
rangement for  heating  two  rooms  in  Canadian  houses.  At 
the  opposite  end  a  large  window.  The  two  long  sides  of  the 
room,  literally  lined  with  the  rarest  books  in  choice  editions, 
and  elegant  bindings.  The  pride  of  the  young  shopman  in 
his  books,  and  his  delight  at  my  surprise,  were  interesting. 
He  flew  from  drawer  to  drawer,  pullin^^-  out  here  a  rare  en- 
graving, there  an  autograph.  Finally  he  tossed  me  a  ragged 
scrap  of  discolored  paper.  "What  is  it?"  I  asked.  "Oh, 
nothing  much, — autographs,"  he  said  laconically.  "Vaudreuil 
and  Raudot,  Governor-General  pnd  Intendant  of  Canada." 
The  names  were  suggestive.  The  paper,  dated  Quebec,  Oct. 
30,  1706,  proved  to  be  the  petition  of  certain  English  and  Dutch 
in  Canada  for  naturalization.     I  ran  my  eye  down  the  list : 


^tmmasam 


262  TRUK    STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGEANI)    CAPTIVES. 

Louis  Marie  Strafton,  Mathias  Claude  Karnet, 

Pierre  Augustiii  Litrefield,  Madeline  Ouareui, 

Christine  Otes_   ,  Thomas  Hust, 

Elizabet  Price,  Marie  Franyoise  French, 

Elizabeth  Casse,  Therese  Steben. 

How  many  desolate  homes  these  names  recalled.  Too 
well  I  knew  them  all,  disguised  as  they  were  by  their  French 
names. 

Amended  the  list  would  read : 

Charles  Trafton  of  York,  Me. 

Matthew  Farnsworth  of  Groton,  Mass. 

Aaron  Littlefield  of  Wells,  Maine. 

Grizel  Warren  and  Margaret  Otis,  wife  and  „hild  of  Richard  ('  's, 

blacksmith,  of  Dover,  N.  H. 
Thomas  Hurst,  Elizabeth  Price, 

Freedom  French,  Elizabeth  Corse, 

Thankful  Stebbins. 

All  of  Deerfield. 

Fancy  these  New  England  boys  and  girls,  baby  Otis  and 
the  rest  of  them,  wrecked  on  a  foreign  strand  by  the  storms 
of  war,  beseeching  his  Majesty,  the  High  and  Mighty  Louis 
XIV,  to  be  graciously  pleased  to  grant  them  citizenship, 
declaring  that  they  have  established  themselves  in  His  col- 
ony of  Canada,  and  that  they  wish  to  live  and  die  in  the 
Holy  Roman  Catholic  faith.  Much  excited  by  my  discovery, 
I  sat  there  in  the  twilight  and  told  the  story  of  these  captives 
to  the  little  French  tailor. 

This  was  my  first  introduction  to  Thankful  Stebbins,  citi- 
zen of  Canada,  robbed  of  her  Puritan  name,  member  of  the 
Apostolic  church  in  good  standing. 

A  year  elapsed.  I  found  her  next  at  Boucherville  in  1708, 
Therese  already,  and  godmother  to  one  of  her  sister  Abigail's 
children.  The  record  of  her  baptism  not  there,  nor  yet  her 
marriage;   neither  at  Boucherville,  nor  at  Montreal,  nor  at 


TMANK  FVL   STEHBINS. 


263 


Quebec.     Yet  Thercvse  she  was,  and  a  grandmother  she  was  to 
be,  (according  to  General  Hoyt,)  before  my  quest  could  cease. 

On  the  parish  register  of  Longueuil,  the  old  Seigniory  of 
Charles  LeMoyne,  stands  the  following: 

February  4th,  171 1,  After  the  publication  of  the  usual  banns 
made  at  the  mass  in  the  church  of  La  Sainte-Fauiille  at  Boucher- 
ville,  on  the  25th  of  January  and  the  1st  and  2nd  of  February,  to 
which  no  legal  impediment  has  been  found,  1  the  undersigned, 
priest,  aar  of  Boucherville,  have  married  in  the  aforesaid  parish 
church  of  Boucherville,  Adrien  grain,  called  La  Vallee,  inhabitant  of 
chambly,  aged  23  years,  son  of  the  deceased  Charles  le  grain,  and 
louyse  la  fortune  living,  inhabitant  of  Chambly  to  Therese  louyse 
Stebens,  aged  21  years,' daughter  of  John  Stebensand  Dorothy  Alex- 
ander his  wife,  inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Guiervil  in  New  England 
and  have  given  them  the  nuptial  benediction  in  presence  of  Joseph 
Maillot,  cousin  of  the  groom,  of  Sieur  Jacques  de  Noyon,  brother-in 
law  of  the  bride,  and  others. 

Thus  at  last  Thankful  Stebbins  of  Deerfield,  our  little  pe- 
titioner for  citizenship,  having  obtained  her  naturalization 
papers  in  17 10,  under  her  new  name  of  Therese  Louise  did 
"establish  herself  in  His  Majesty's  colony  of  Canada,"  as  the 
wife  of  Adrian  le  Grain,  nicknamed  La  Vallee,  habitant  sol- 
dier of  Chambly. 

In  my  rambles  among  the  records,  there  have  been  many 
red  letter  days,  notably  that  at  Chambly,  in  search  of  Thank- 
ful Stebbins,  wife  of  Adrian  Le  Grain,  bride  in  her  19th 
year  and  grandmother  to  be. 

In  the  titne  schedules  of  suburban  service  on  Canadian 
railways,  the  interest  of  the  tourist  is  neglected.  Properly 
enough,  trains  are  run  for  the  accommodation  of  the  rustics, 
who  must  be  in  the  city  at  early  morn  and  out  in  the  late 
afternoon.  This  prevents  the  student  from  looking  up  the 
parish  records,  even  if  he  or  she  were  bold  enough  to  face 

'Her  actual  age  was  nineteen. 


mmi 


264  TRUE   ST(3RIES   OF   NEW    ENCJLAND   CAPTIVES. 

the  possibilities  of  a  night  in  a  Canadian  vnllage  inn.  How- 
ever, the  will  makes  the  way,  and  one  who  is  not  too  nice, 
may  avail  himself  of  a  mixed  train,  heavy  freight  with  a 
comfortless  caboose  attached,  and  crawl  to  his  destination  at 
the  rate  of  six  miles  an  hour,  subject  to  tiresome  waits  at 
intervening  stations. 

However  we  go  from  village  to  village,  up  and  down  the 
noble  river,  we  can  never  forget  that  we  are  treading  the 
path  once  trodden  by  our  footsore  and  sorrowing  kinsfolk, 
listening  to  the  same  accents,  that  fell  so  strangely  on  the 
ears  of  the  forlorn  and  homesick  captives. 

In  1665,  the  Marquis  de  Tracy  arrived  in  Quebec  as  Lieu- 
tenant-General  of  Canada.  The  famous  Carignan  regiment 
had  been  given  him  by  the  king  with  orders  to  subdue  or 
destroy  the  Iroquois.  "The  Mohawks  and  Oneidas  were 
persistently  hostile,  making  inroads  into  the  colony  by  way 
of  Lake  Champlain  and  the  Richelieu,  murdering  and  scalp- 
ing and  then  vanishing  like  ghosts." 

Tracy  immediately  built  a  picket  fort  at  the  foot  of  the 
rapids  of  the  Richelieu.  Sorel,  an  officer  of  the  Carignan, 
later  built  a  second  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  now 
is  the  town  of  Sorel ;  and  vSalic'res,  "colonel  of  the  regiment, 
added  a  third  fort  two  or  three  leagues  above  that  at  the 
rapids."  No  fort,  however,  could  "bar  the  passage  against 
the  nimble  and  wily  warriors  who  might  pass  them  in  the 
night,  shouldering  their  canoes  through  the  woods,"  and 
Tracy  prepared  to  march  in  person  against  the  Mohawks 
with  all  the  force  of  Canada.  This  expedition  against 
the  Mohawks  is  the  subject  of  one  of  Mr.  Parkman's  fin- 
est pictures,  and,  says  that  author,'  "was  of  all  the  French 
expeditions  against  the  Iroquois  the  most  productive  of  good." 
Tracy's  work  being  done,  four  companies  of  the  splendid  reg- 

'Parkman.     Old  Rtgime. 


THANKFUL   STEBBINS. 


265 


iment  were  left  in  garrison,  and  the  Marquis  with  the  rest 
of  "the  glittering  noblesse  in  his  train,"  went  back  to  France. 
Many  of  the  officers,  however,  weary  of  their  life  in  the  cor- 
rupt Frenjh  court,  and  stimulated  by  promises  and  money 
from  the  king,  who  had  the  peopling  of  the  colony  much  at 
heart,  remained  to  marry  and  settle  in  Canada. 

The  lands  along  the  Richelieu  were  allotted  in  large  seign- 
iorial grants  among  these  officers,  who  in  turn  granted  out 
the  land  to  their  soldiers.  "The  officer  thus  became  a  kind 
of  feudal  chief,  and  the  whole  settlement  a  permanent  mili- 
tary cantonment."  ....  "The  disbanded  soldier  was  prac- 
tically a  soldier  still,  but  he  was  also  a  farmer  and  a  land- 
holder."' Tracy's  picketed  fort  below  the  rapids  of  the 
Richelieu,  then  known  as  Fort  Pontchartrain,  with  the  land 
adjacent,  was  awarded  to  Captain  de  Chambly.  After  his 
death  the  seigniory  of  Chambly  passed  to  Marie  de  Thauven- 
et,  his  betrothed  or  his  sister-in-law,^  through  whom  her  hus- 
band, Franyois  Hertel  "The  Hero,"  father  of  Hertel  de  Rou- 
ville,  became  its  owner,  being  known  thereafter  as  Hertel  de 
Chambly. 

From  that  day  to  this,  Chambly  has  been  closely  connect- 
e'  with  our  history.  The  fort  was  the  point  of  departure 
ctud  arrival  for  most  of  the  expeditions  against  New  Eng- 
land. Hardly  a  New  England  captive  but  was  at  some  time 
sheltered  within  its  walls. 

On  Saturday,  probably  March  25,  1704,  Parson  Williams^^  of 
Deeriield  says  : 

"We  arrived  near  noon  at  Shamblee,  a  small  village  where  is  a 
garrison  and  fort  of  French  soldiers.  This  village  is  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Montreal.  The  French  were  very  kind  to  me.  A  gen- 
tleman of  the  place  took   me   into  his  house  and  to  his  table,  and 

'Pari  rr^n.     Old  Regime. 

'Authorities  dififer  on  this  point. 

^Redeemed  Captive.     Sixth  Edition.  MDCCC,  p.  31. 


266 


TRUK    STOKFKS    ( H'    NKW    KN(il,AM)    CAI'TIVKS, 


lodged  me  at  nijjlit  on  a  j^ood  fcallier  l)(;d.  Tlie  lidiahitaiits  and 
officers  were  very  ol)lij>;inji;  to  me  the  little  time  1  ..tayed  witii  them, 
and  promised  to  write  a  letter  to  the  j^overnor  in  chief,  to  inform 
him  of  my  passinji  down  the  river.  Here  1  saw  a  j(irl  taken  from 
our  town,  and  a  younj(  man,  who  informed  me  that  the  j^rcaler  part 
of  the  captives  were  come  in,  and  that  two  of  n»y  children  were  at 
Montreal." 


Many  of  the  DeerCield  ciptivcs  had  reached  Chatnbly 
three  weeks  before  Mr.  Williams's  arrival.  His  son  Stej)hen 
did  not  arrive  there  till  the  ne.xt  Aiij^iist.  There  the 
French  were  kind  to  him.  'They  j^ave  him  bread,  which  he 
hai  not  tasted  before  since  his  capture,  and  (b'essed  his 
wotindcd  feet  ;  -  and  later,  llertel  de  Chaml)ly  tried  to  btiy 
him  from  his  savaj^e  master.  (Jiientin  Stockwell  stayed  four 
days  at  Chambly,  and  was  kindly  treated  by  the  French,  who 
gave  him  hasty  piiddinj^  and  milk  with  brandy,  and  bathed 
his  frozen  lim])S  with  cold  water.  One  young  I'^renchman 
gave  the  poor  stifferer  his  own  bed  to  lie  on,  tried  to  btiy 
him,  and  went  with  him  to  S(^re1,  to  protect  him  from  abuse 
by  the  Indians. 

Chambly  was  a  village  of  but  ten  houses  when  lien  Waite 
and  Stephen  Jennings  htirried  through  it,  in  agonizing  .search 
for  their  beloved  ones,  whom  they  found  in  the  Indian  lodg- 
es not  far  away. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings,  as  I  walked 
alone  throtigh  the  village  of  Chambly  on  my  way  to  the 
priest's.  Aside  from  its  associations,  Chambly  has  a  beauty 
of  its  own.  A  long  line  of  Lombardy  poplars  defines  the 
cote  of  Chambly,  which  with  its  low,  red  roofs  and  broadly 
overhanging  eaves,  goes  straggling  along  the  bend  of  the 
swift-flowing  river.  Opposite,  two  picturesque  mountains, 
then  gorgeous  in  their  autumnal  colors,  complete  the  circle 
formed  by   the   lake-like   expanse,    called   Chambly    Basin. 


TIIANKMJI,    S'lKIUUNS.  267 

Half  way  round,  the  circle  is  broken  by  the  river,  which 
comes  roarinjr  and  tumblinj^  down,  in  a  series  of  rapids,  at 
the  foot  of  which  the  ruins  of  the  ff)rt  which  in  171 1  suc- 
ceeded Tracy's  palisade,  advance  boldly  into  the  current. 

The  (Kfi'  received  me  with  a  kindness  which  seems  from 
the  days  of  the  captivity  to  have  become  habitual  to  the 
place,  and  I  was  soon  abs(jrbed  in  the  records. 

They  be^in  in  1706,  and  on  one  of  the  lirst  pa^es  stands 
tlie  baptism  of  Thankful  Stebbins.  The  spellinj^  and  the 
{grammar  of  the  original  would  puzzle  a  .schoolgirl  of  to-day. 
The  following  is  a  literal  tran.slation  : 

"I'liis  23(1  of  April  1707  1,  I'ierre  Dublaroii  officiating  in  the  parish 
of  Cliainbiy,  certify  that  1  have  administered  the  rite  of  baptism  to 
Louise  I'licrese  Stehen,  luigiish  jjirl  and  baptized  in  England,  (sic) 
Ilcr  gotlfalher  and  go'imotlier  were  Monsieur  Hertel,  Seignieur  tie 
('hambly  and  Madame  iW.  I'erygny,  wilt  of  ^\n\  comni.indant  of  tlie 
fort  of  (Miami)ly." 

|Signedl      I  lertel  de  (Jiiambly,  I-ouise  de  I'erygny. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  it  was  in  February,  1711,  that 
Thankful  or  Thercse  Louise  Stebbins  was  married  in  the 
])arish  jhurch  of  Boucherville  to  Adrian  le  (irain.  In  March, 
1713,  her  first  child  Franyoi.se  Therese  was  baptized  at 
Chambly.  The  child's  godparents  were  Hertel  de  Beau  lac 
and  There.se,  wife  of  Hertel  de  Niverville.  In  due  succe.s- 
sion  follow  William,  Marie  Jeanne,  Marie,  Charlotte.  Lsabelle, 
Antoine  and  Marie  There.se.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1729,  Ver- 
onique,  the  ninth  and  last  child  of  Adrian  le  Grain  and  Loui.se 
Therese  vStebbins,  was  born  and  baptized.  Two  children  of 
Abigail  Stebbins  de  Noyon'  stood  by  their  little  cousin  at 
her  baptism,  and  just  a  week  after  followed  Thankful  vSteb- 

'Baptiste  de  Noyon  and  liis  ni.irricd   sister  Marie-Gabriellc  de  Noyon,  wife 
of  Nicolas  Binet. 


268  TRUE   STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


bins  to  her  last  resting  place  on  earth.     She  was  only  thirty- 
eight  years  old  when  the  end  camu.' 

My  labors  for  her  were  finished.  Listlessly  turning  the 
leaves  of  the  register,  I  found  the  marriage  of  her  brother. 
Joseph  Stebbius,  and  learned  from  the  ciir(^  that  there  are 
still  in  his  parish  descendants  of  Joseph,  possibly  also  of 
Thankful.  Fifty  minutes  to  train  time.  Too  little  to  prove 
my  kinshi])  to  my  new  found  cousins,  if  found.  Enough 
perhaps  to  give  me  a  nearer  view  of  the  old  fort.  Could  I 
reach  it  ?  Father  Le  Sage,  glancing  at  the  muddy  road,  at 
me,  impeded  by  my  weight,  and  my  long  skirts,  prudently  an- 
swers, "T  have  done  it  in  twentv  minutes." 

The  cassock  notwithstanding,  thought  I,  and  bade  him  a 
hasty  adieu.  The  little  children  stared  and  the  little  dogs 
barked,  as  I  flew  through  the  town.  Nor  stopped  I,  nor 
stayed  I,  till  trying  a  short  cut  to  the  fort,  I  crossed  a  swol- 
len creek,  on  a  shaky  plank,  and  brought  up  breathless  at  a 
high  picket  fence,  painted  black  and  bearing  the  date  1707. 

By  a  special  Providence  my  steps  had  been  led  to  the  an- 
cient burying  ground  of  the  Seigniory.  Wading  through  the 
wiry,  brown  grass,  plunging  into  pitfalls,  caught  among  the 
brambles  and  stumbling  over  hummocV-s  and  half  buried 
fragments  of  old  head-stones,  I  ran  about  the  place.  Would 
the  grave  give  up  its  dead?  Should  I  find  here  any  of  the 
lost  ones  of  Deerfield? 

No  answer  came  to  my  eager  question.  Time  and  the  an- 
nual overflow  of  the  turbulent  river,  have  levelled  all  the 
mounds.  Here  and  there,  a  deeply  furrowed  slab  of  weath- 
ered oak,  in  form  and  color  like  the  slates  of  our  own  old 
burying  ground,  totters  to  its  fall,  not  a  jot  of  its  legend  re- 
maining.    Two  gaunt  wooden  crosses,  lately  reared  by  the 

'The  death  of  Thankful  Stebbins  is  thus  briefly  recorded  immediately  after 
.the  baptism  of  her  child  :  "The  burial  of  the  wife  of  Charles  le  grain,  July  11, 
1729. 


■HPP 


"If 


I 


-:till  i 


1 

re;;'  ■■ 
in.' 


barke' 

stn 

len  crcuK 
high  p'  •' 
Bv. 


'    Fo"kT  Pdl^-rc'(lAf<IHAIN   AT   CHAMBLY 
PALISADE    ENCLOSING    BURIAL   CWOUND    WHWt   tHANKfUU  eTE9»lNS    PLtBPS 


the  g; 
lost  Ollt;;- 

No  an.^ 
nual  o^'c: 
raoitn' 

buryii 
'Th. 

.ihe  baptisn, 
1 729. 


It:  and  the  an- 
.    ,  ..  veiled  all  '^  - 

;  I y  fun-'     >   :  ■•;]ab  of  v. 
re  the  slates  o* 


fly  reto  ■ 


X 


nrANKFiri.   KTKBMINS 

'  269 

reverent  hand  of  the  village  antfcnnrv  '  t        T  " 

also  the  preservation  c,f  the  ru  ,?'  /"      '''"''  ''''^  ^^'  "^^'-• 

names  of  the  old  R.'-^ri.ne  I W  ,  r  •'*'•  '*"'■'''"  •^"'"^'  ""ted 
fair  devotee,  who  c.tne  with  ,  n  "  ^^''^^  ^hauvenet.  the 
t"  dedicate  herself  to  the  ed  ,'  '^'r'V"  '■'^'  ^"^•''^''"''^tion 
Canada.  "^  educ.ition  of  the   Indian  ^.irls  of 

Turned   fnmi  her  purpose  hv  th..  f-.     •       • 
some  youn^.  captain    n  theCai,       '^•^•^^''"^^^""'■^  "^  a  hand- 
h's  betrothed.    Wreft  of  I^cm  W      "  ;-e.^^'m..nt.  she  became 

names  and  date  „f  .eath  of'p.eLf ,;;,-;'--.  "-r  the 

What  gracous   impulse  ln,l    l,.,i    ',"•■ 
W"te  the.  this  „ame'a,K,  Oa?:  .IrL'^:;-;',!,^;^'  "'"'"   '" 

I  hcrcse  Steben. 

of  her  life.  „eertel<l  t<,  O^L  I  chTf^'''"''  "'^'  "'^'^ 
^nd  back  asain  to  ChamW  W.^  """"^'^  '"  """'•herville 
firm  and  colors  bright  and  dca,  ?,  T^  *""'•  '"  '"^'"^'^ 
dullest  might  have  foUou-cd  it  '"  "'  P'"'"  "''•"  'h*^ 

Carried  in  her  finit-f^     .1 

one  of  his  th'::  t",^'  ">;  "-""'  d>-  Kouviiie,  or 

Keeri5eld,  to  the  fort    ,t  rh        ','  '  '"  '""''•'"=''  "'"h  him  to 

father,  Thankful   Stebb  n^    ^  ^^•"'  ""^  *'*f"'<"-^-  "f  the  " 

the  ladies  of  the  Her  eUni,"!  F^l  '"  ^'''"^<=  '"  "ne  ot" 
Hertel  mansion.  ^ '  '""'^  P'^'^^^h'  domiciled  in  the 

-     :  'Mr.  J.F.  Dion. 


L 


wmmmmmmm 


270  TRUE    STORIES    OK    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


The  seigniory  was  well  stocked  with  sheep  and  cattle  and 
the  house  was  a  good  one.  It  brings  us  very  near  to  the  Old 
Regime  in  Canada,  to  remember  that  Franyois  Hertel  the 
Hero,  and  Marie  de  Thauvenet,  his  wife,  must  have  talked 
with  the  child  and  questi(Hied  her  nbout  he.'  home  and  peo- 
ple. Unable  to  comprehend  or  pronounce  her  outlandish 
name,  the  family  of  the  Seignior,  perhaps  induced  by  the 
similarity  of  the  initial  letters,  called  her  Therc'se,  after  the 
wife  of  Hertel  de  Niverville.  Becoming  fond  of  the  child, 
wishing  .j  keep  her  in  Canada  and  conscientiously  believing 
that  her  salvation  depended  on  her  becoming  a  good  Catho- 
lic, they  put  her  name  on  the  list  of  petitioners  for  natural- 
ization in  1706. 

The  next  year.  Father  Dublaron  baptized  her  in  the  chap- 
el of  the  fort,  her  godfather  being  either  the  Hero  himself, 
or  his  son.  Her  godmother,  Louise  de  Perygny,  wife  of  the 
commandant  of  the  fort,  added  her  own  name  to  that  by 
which  the  girl  was  already  well  known  in  the  neighborhood. 
We  may  fancy  the  feelings  of  the  maiden  of  sixteen  on  that 
summer  day  of  the  same  year,  when  she  saw  Mr.  Sheldon, 
Nathaniel  Brooks  and  Edward  Allen  of  Deerfield,  with  .sev- 
en more  redeemed  captives,  escorted  by  young  Hertel  de 
Chambly  and  five  French  soldiers,  set  out  from  the  fort  for 
home.  Standing  on  the  very  spot  nearly  two  centuries 
later,  I  seemed  to  hear  the  plaintive  voice  of  the  girl  plead- 
ing with  the  Captain,  (Hertel  de  Chambly,)  to  let  her  go  with 
them,  and  her  bitter  wailings  when  the  boat  put  out  from 
shore  without  her. 

It  was,  perhaps,  to  spare  her  the  recurrence  of  such  .scenes, 
that  .she  was  .sent  to  Boucherville  in  1708  to  live  with  her 
sister  Abigail.  Here  she  gradually  re.signed  her.self  to  her 
lot. 

Citizenship  with  all  its  privileges  and  penalties  having 
been   graciously   accorded  to  her  in  17 10  by  His   Majesty, 


mmmf'm^^f^^^^'mmmm^(^^^''9P; 


THANKFUL   STEBBINS.  27I 

Louis  XIV,  she  married  the  following  year,  Charles  Adrian 
ie  Grain,  habitant  soldier  of  Chambly,  returning  there  to 
live  with  him. 

There  I  find  her  faithful  friend  Therese,  wife  of  Hertel  de 
Niverville,  with  Hertel  de  Beaulac'  standing  as  sponsors  to 
her  first  child,  and  there  at  the  birth  of  her  ninth  child, 
she  died  in  1729.  The  spirit  of  the  unredeemed  captive, 
ransomed  at  last  and  safe  in  its  eternal  home,  her  dust  lies 
there  with  that  of  the  old  noblesse,  her  friends  and  protectors. 

Gentle  breezes  whisper  softly  among  the  grass  that  waves 
above  the  sod  ;  the  rapids  of  the  Richelieu  cease  their  angry 
roaring  as  they  draw  near  the  spot ;  and  the  beautiful  river 
.sings  its  sweetest  credence  as  it  flows  by  the  place  where 
Thankful  Stebbins  sleeps. 

'The  frequent  connection  of  Ihe  Hertel  family  with  the  Dcerfielil  captives  in 
Canada  is  interesting. 


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i-S-Mt^    -^-«*, 


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'•>^.<l't"»iT»g|l 


A  SCION  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  DEERFIELD. 


JOSKPH-OCTAVK    PI.KSSIS,    FIRST    ARCHBISHOP    OF    (lUKUFC. 
Writton  for  tlic  Two  Iliiiiilrc-th  Annivi'iisary  of  tlic  foiiiKliiig  of  tliu  I'liiircli  in  Dciiliclil. 


The  church  in  Deerfield,  as  in  all  our  New  England  plan- 
tations, is  coeval  with  the  town.  The  plan  of  the  eight 
thousand  acre  grant'  being  laid  before  the  General  Court  in 
1665,  was  approved  and  allowed,  "provided  that  they  mayne- 
tayne  ye  ordinances  of  Christ  there,  once  within  five  years. 
When  in  1673,  discouraged  at  the  slow  settlement  of  Pocum- 
tuck,  Samuel  Hinsdell,  Samson  Frary  and  others,  petitioned 
the  General  Court  for  liberty  to  cut  loose  from  the  mother 
town,"^  and  order  all  their  own  prudentiall  affairs,"  permis- 
sion was  given  them,  "provided  that  an  able  and  orthodox 
minister  within  three  years  be  settled  among  them." 

These  requisites  of  ability  and  orthodoxy  were  easily 
found  in  the  person  of  a  Harvard  graduate,  young  Samuel 
Mather  of  Dorchester,  nephew  of  Increase,  and  cousin  of 
Cotton  Mather,  the  famous  Boston  preachers.     "If  God  should 

'See  the  "Difficulties  and  Dangers  of  a  Frontier  Settlement. 
'^Dedham. 


4 


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■'    .'  ■      '  l-'r,tiii  .t  /'or!r,i:t  ,\f     '    >     ■        i 

MGR.     ObtH-M-OC  [AVE    ^n.KSblS 

,  ,  GliANOsON     l>i      •.(/kOTHA.     t  RFNCH     lilt      (.APTIVf  ,,, 

-      ,■     Ml'..:!'"! 

'  \  -•  1 1';<  ■    ''1'  ■'  it'  i 

<!    j  >  ..  1 ;     '      I";;'-    '    )irvnn>- 

■  w  ■■'■    V  r.i  ii;al'    '  \-'>ia'it;    :-!,!';'  '!■  ' 
'■r  -■■  •!     '  I'";  r  iSi.'.  an  1    (,■•  -'m;       ' 


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A   SCION   OF   THE   CHURCH    IN   DEERFIELD.  273 


be  provoked  by  the  unthankfulness  of  men,  to  send  the 
plague  of  an  unlearned  ministry  on  New  England,"  writes 
Cotton  Mather,  "soon  will  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desart  live 
there,  and  the  houses  will  be  full  of  doleful  creatures,  and 
owls  will  dwell  there." 

This  ancient  town  has  never  been  stricken  by  the  plague 
of  an  unlearned  ministry.  From  vSamuel  Mather  to  the 
present  day,  her  ministers  have  been  able,  and  I  venture  to 
say,  orthodox  in  the  best  sense  of  that  word. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  gathering  of  the  church  in 
Deerfield  was  in  the  garrison  house  of  Quentin  Stockwell, 
where  the  boy-preacher  boarded.  This  house  stood  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  parsonage  of  the  second  church. 
Meeting-House  Hill  is  named,  in  John  Pynchon's  account 
book,  as  early  as  1673.  From  the  same  source,  we  le,-rn  that 
Worshipful  John,  who  held  much  good  land  in  Pocumtuck, 
paid  there  in  1675  a  rate  for  the  minister's  house,  and  also 
for  "y"  little  House  for  a  Meeting  house,  that  y"  Meet  in." 

Years  passed.  Mr.  John  Williams,  another  youthful  grad- 
uate of  Harvard,  was  "encouraged"  to  turn  his  back  upon 
the  more  alluring  fields  of  the  Bay  settlements,  and  cast  his 
lot  among  the  pioneers  of  this  frontier  town,  "to  dispense 
the  Blessed  word  of  Truth  unto  them." 

"Att  a  legall  Town  Meeting  in  Deerf'',  Oct.  30.,  1694,  Ensign 
John  Sheldon  Moderator  that  there  shall  be  a  meeting  house  Built 
in  deerfield,  upon  the  Town  charge  voted  affirmatively  :  That  there 
shal  be  a  comitty  chosen  and  impowered  to  agree  with  workmen 
to  begin  said  building  forthwith,  and  carry  it  on  fast  as  may  be: 
voted  affirmatively 

That  y^'  meetinghouse  shal  be  built  y"  bigness  of  Hatfield  meeting 
house,  only  y^  height  to  be  left  to  y  judgment  and  determination 
of  y'"  comitty  voted  affirmatively." 

We  cannot  too  often  rebuild  the  little  hamlet  as  it  was  on 
that  Sunday  morning  in  February,  when  for  the  last  time, 


mm^ 


274  TkUK   STOKIKS   OF   NEW   ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

the  faithful  shepherd  gathered  his  whole  flock  within  the 
fold.  North  of  Meeting-House  Hill,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
street,  lived  Daniel  Beldingon  the  old  Stebbins  place.  John 
Stebbins's  lot  was  the  home  of  Lieut,  and  Deacon  David 
Hoyt ;  I  know  not  which  of  his  titles  to  put  first,  as  both 
were  then  of  equal  value  to  the  little  community.  Fibenezer 
Brooks  then  held  the  homestead  of  the  Deerfield  Antiquary. 
On  the  east,  John  Stebbins  and  his  good  wife  Dorothy,  dwelt 
on  what  we  know  as  the  David  Sheldon  place.  Martin  Kel- 
logg was  their  next  neighbor.  On  the  knoll  now  occupied 
by  Mrs.  Allen,  lived  Hannah  Beaman,  ever  to  be  remembered 
as  the  good  school  dame  of  the  early  settlement,  and  a  gen- 
erous benefactor  of  the  town.  At  the  south,  was  the  pick- 
eted house  of  Lieut.  Jonathan  Wells,  the  boy  hero,  whose 
valor  in  the  Falls  Fight  made  his  name  illustrious.  Philip 
Mattoon's  family  lived  on  Mrs.  George  Wells's  lot,  and  the 
widow  Smead,  in  the  old  house  still  standing  opposite  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  W.  Champney's.  These,  and  many  others  equally 
worthy  of  remembrance,  lived  outside  the  stockade. 

The  fortification  enclosed  the  whole  of  Meeting-House 
Hill,  including  the  present  sites  of  both  churches.  Towards 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  palisade,  was  the  well-built  house 
of  Ensign  John  Sheldon,  the  "Old  Indian  House"  of  our 
childhood. 

Where  Lincoln  Wells's  homestead  is  now,  stood  the  dwell- 
ing of  Benoni  Stebbins,  forever  to  be  venerated  as  the  spot 
where  he,  and  six  other  brave  men,  nobly  aided  by  the 
women,  "stood  stoutly  to  y'r  armes with  more  than  or- 
dinary couridge,"  says  an  eye  witness  of  that  dreadful  day. 
As  our  school  books  mistake  the  old  Indian  House  for  the 
home  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  it  is  well  that  Deerfield 
children  should  be  reminded  that  Parson  Williams  lived  next 
south  of  Benoni  Stebbins.  The  well  that  stood  in  his  yard 
just  west  of  the  present  Academy,  is  still  in  use.     From  the 


A    SCION    OK   TIIK   cnUKCll    IN    DKKUl' I  Kl,l  >. 


-V5 


minister's  to  Mchuman  llinsdcirs,'  there  were  no  houses  ex- 
eept  perhaps  a  few  rude  struetures,  built  for  those  families 
who,  havinj,^  homes  outside,  fled  for  shelter  within  the  pali- 
sades in  time  of  dan^^er.  The  lot  next  south  of  llinsdell's 
was  held  by  Mr.  John  Riehards.  sehoolmaster.  Opposite, 
was  old  (rodfrey  Nims's  ;  and  next  at  the  north,  Samson  Frary 
built  the  h(mse  in  1698  whieh  is  still  standing.'  Nims  and 
Frary  were  two  of  the  first  three  settlers  in  Deerfield,  Next 
north  of  vSamson  Frary  lived  Mr.  John  Catlin.  Mis  son-in- 
law,  Thomas  Freneh,  on  the  lot  adjoining,  now  owned  by 
the  Seeond  Chureh.  In  the  northeast  eorner  of  the  stoek- 
ade,-'  was  Samuel  Carter's  house. 

Equi-distant  from  the  houses  of  Benoni  Stebbins  and  En- 
sign vSheldon,  a  few  rods  northwest  of  the  soldiers'  monu- 
ment, stood  the  meeting  house,  a  square,  two-story  building, 
with  pyramidal  roof  surmounted  by  a  turret,  tipped  with  a 
weather-eoek.  In  the  front  was  a  low,  wide  door,  with  a 
broad  window  on  either  side,  and  eorresponding  windows 
above  from  the  galleries. 

Sunday  morning,  Feb.  27,  1703-4  dawned  bright  and  fair. 
One  of  those  severe  storms,  whieh  are  so  often  the  immedi- 
ate forerunner  of  the  breaking  up  of  winter,  had  eovered 
the  ground  with  snow,  to  the  depth  of  three  feet  on  a  level. 
A  "sort  of  house"  whieh  Benjamin  Munn  had  dug  out  and 
boarded  over  as  a  shelter  for  his  family,  in  Mr.  Riehards's 
hillside,  was  hidden  by  the  drifts.  A  little  rain,  and  a  gusty 
night  had  followed,  a  hard  and  glittering  crust  had  formed, 
and  the  dead  twigs  lay  scattered  far  and  wide  over  its  sur- 
face. Yet  there  was  cheer  in  the  air  and  sky,  and  though 
the  mountain  loomed  black  against  the  horizon,  that  tender 

'Now  Mrs.  Whiting's. 

•^The  oldest  house   in    the   Connecticut  Valley.     Restored  in  1892    by  a  de- 
scendant. *-••   ^-   •*• 
''Now  owned  by  Mrs.  Yale.                  ,-„-    .^^     -    ^ 


^m 


276  TRUE    ST(^R1KS   OF   NKW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


flush  that  shows  the  stir  of  the  sap  in  every  bush  seemed  to 
soften  its  outline.  The  brooks  babbled  joyously  through 
the  iee-bound  swamps.  The  shrill  erowing  of  eoeks  eehoed 
from  neighboring-  barn  yards.  The  erows  .sereamed  noisily 
from  the  bare  branehes,  as  they  wheeled  from  tree  to  tree  in 
the  meadows.  There  was  spring  in  the  air  and  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  as,  at  beat  of  drum,  they  slowly  and  deeorous- 
ly  wended  their  way  to  meeting.  Climbing  the  hill  from 
both  ends  of  the  town  plat,  they  passed  through  the  gates  of 
the  palisade,  and  filing  silently  into  the  meeting  house  took 
their  allotted  plaees  on  the  long  wooden  benches.  At  the 
i"ight  of  the  preacher  are  the  men  :  first  the  town  officers 
and  aged  men  who  have  formerly  served  in  that  capacity  ; 
then  tho.se  who  hold  any  military  rank.  Heuind  them  such 
as  are  known  in  the  community  as  "Mr."  or  "Dr.,"  and  final- 
ly all  the  rest  of  the  men,  with  due  regard  to  age,  estate  and 
place.  Their  wives  occupy  corresponding  seats  on  the  eft 
of  the  broad  aisle.  The  young  men  and  maidens  go  quietly 
by  separate  stairs  to  the  gallery,  where  a  high  railing  .sepa- 
rates them.  They  look  down  with  curiosity,  and  perhaps 
envy,  upon  the  three  young  couples  lately  joined  in  holy 
wedlock,  who  shyly  pass  up  the  broad  aisle,  to  rear  seats  in 
the  body  of  the  meeting-house,  to  which  marriage  has  pro- 
moted them.  A  .sense  of  strangeness,  and  a  half  homesick 
longing  for  the  old  Chicopee  meeting-house,  lends  a  shade  of 
sadness  to  the  face  of  Hannah  Chapin,  but  a  glance  from  her 
manly  husband,  young  John  vSheldon,  reassures  her.  Eliza- 
beth Price  shows  a  consciousness  of  having  somewhat  out- 
raged public  opinion  by  her  marriage  with  "the  Indian." 
Abigail  Stebbins  has  a  self-complacent  air,  mingled  with 
pride  and  satisfaction,  which  stings  the  heart  of  many  a 
youth  in  the  gallery, — while  her  husband,  Jacques  de  Noy- 
on,  bears  himself  with  an  air  of  saucy  superiority  and  triumph, 
and  evidently  submits  with  ill  grace  to  the  tedious  solemni- 


A   SCION   OF   THK   CHURCH    IN   DEIlKIl  Ki.n. 


277 


ties  of  the  Puritan  Sablxith.  The  bovs  are  rn,i<.ed  on  bench- 
es  against  the  walls  under  the  windows;  the  little  children 
on  the  floor  near  their  mothers.  Ikdow  the  pulpit  and  raised 
some  steps  above  the  floor,  on  a  lon^^  bench  facin^^  the  con- 
.^rre^raiion,  sit  the  two  deacons,  Lieut.  David  Hoyt  and  I<:nsii,ni 
John  Sheldon.  The  j^rarrison  soldiers  are  seated  near  the 
j,n-eat  door  with  bandoliers  on  shoulder  and  matchlocks  close 
at  hand.  The  seats  were  hard,  the  service  lonir.  the  meetin..-. 
house  cold  and  gh.omy,  but  the  piety  of  our  fathers  was  fcT- 
vid.-and  warmed  and  comforted,  the  people  dispersed. 

Among-  the  dignitaries  on  the  foremost  seats  of  the  meet 
inghouse  that  day,  were  Mr.  John  Catlin  and  his  daughter's 
husband,  Thomas  French,  the  town  clerk. 

Mr.  John  Catlin,  born  in  Weathersfield.  Conn.,  in  \C^7,  and 
married  there  at  the  age  of  twenty.f<nir,  to  Mary,  daughter 
of  Joseph  l^aldwin,  had  been  an  early  settler  at  J^.ranford 
Conn.,  whence  he  removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.     He  was  a  lead' 
ing  man  in  church  and  town  affairs  in  J^ranford  and  Newark 
He  stands  on  Nev/ark  records  in  1678  as  "Town's  Attorney  " 
and  IS  spoken  of  as  "an  honest  brother  to  take  care  that  all 
town  orders  be  executed,  and  if  a  breach  occurs  to  punish 
the  offender."     He  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Newark  from 
1676  to  168F.     In  1C83  he  was  in  Hartford,  where,  the  same 
year,  his  oldest  daughter,  Mary  Catlin,  married  Thomas,  son 
of  John   French,  formerly  of  Rehoboth,   Mass.,  but  then  of 
Northampton. 

Thomas  French  and  his  father-in-law,  John  Catlin,  prob- 
ably came  together  to  Deerfield  in  1683,  French  settling  on 
the  Quentin  Stockwell  place  which  his  father  had  bought 
some  years  before,  and  Catlin,  on  the  next  lot  south.  Cat- 
lin s  dignity,  services  and  influence,  soon  gave  him  the  hon- 
orable  title  of  "Mr."  among  his  fellow-townsmen,  and  as  be- 
fore in  Branford  and  Newark,  he  was  in  Deerfield  a  trusted 
leader  m  public  affairs. 


2;^S  TRU li    STOklKS    OV    M;\V    KN(]I,AM)    CAPIIVKS. 

French,  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  at  once  built  a  shop,  and 
set  up  his  anvil  by  the  roadside  in  front  of  his  house.  The 
industry  and  morality  of  Thomas  French  gave  him  the  re- 
spect of  his  nei^hl)ors,  and  from  the  beyfinninjj^  he  served 
them  in  responsible  positions.  vSometimcs  as  hayward,  some- 
times as  corporal  of  the  guard  :  on  committees  for  building 
and  seating  the  meeting-house,  and  for  hiring  a  schoolmas- 
ter: for  measuring  the  common  fence,  and  laying  out  to  ev- 
ery man  his  due  proportion  of  the  expense,  and  for  fortify- 
ing Meeting-house  Hill.  His  name  appears  in  i6S8,  as  one 
of  the  first  selectmen  chosen  by  the  town.  To  this  office  he 
was  repeatedly  re-elected. 

Encouraged  by  the  news  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  had 
landed  in  England,  the  people  rose  in  their  might  against 
Sir  Edmund  Andros.  He  was  thrown  into  prison.  A  Coun- 
cil of  Safety,  headed  by  old  vSimon  Bradstreet,  was  elected 
A  convention  of  delegates  was  summoned  from  the  several 
towns  of  Massachusetts  to  assemble  in  Boston,  on  the  226.  of 
May,  1689,  to  deliberate  upon  the  future  government  of  New 
England.  There  is  no  town  record  of  any  meeting  in  Deer- 
field  in  response  to  this  summons.  In  the  Mas,sachusetts 
Archives  the  following  paper  may  be  found  : 

"Deekfikm),  May  17.  1689 

We^  the  Town  of  Deerfiekl,  complying  with  the  desire  of  the 
present  Counsell  of  Safety,  to  choose  one  among  us  as  a  representa- 
tive to  send  down,  to  signify  our  minds  and  concurrance  with  the 
Counsell  for  establishing  of  the  government,  have  chosen  and  de- 
puted Lieutenant  Thomas  Wells,  and  signified  to  him  our  minds  for 
the  proceeding  to  the  settlement  of  the  government  as  hath  been 
signified  to  us  from  the  Honorable  Counsell  of  Safety,  and  those 
other  Representatives.  [Signed] 

John  Sheldon,         ^ 

Benj.  Hastings,       (  selectmen." 
Benoni  Stebbnis,     | 
Thomas  French,      J 


A   SCION   OF   TIIK   CIIUKCII    IN    DKKKI' U;i,D.  279 


1 


Tho  part  played  by  Thomas  French  and  his  associates  on 
this  occasion,  shows  them  to  have  been  shrewd  diph)ma- 
tists  and  fearless  patriots.  However  justifiable,  this  was  a 
revolution.  If  unsuccessful,  the  result  would  be  for  Thorn- 
as  Wells,  who  held  his  commission  from  Andros,  trial  and 
punishment  for  treason.  Vov  John  Sheldon.  Benjamin  Hast- 
in^r-s,  Benoni  Stebbins  and  Thomas  French,  the  .severest  pen- 
alties that  a  vindictive  governor  could  inflict  upon  the  lead- 
ers of  a  rebellion.  The  names  of  Thomas  French  and  the 
others  who  did  not  hesitate  to  assume  this  grave  responsi- 
bility for  the  town,  must  be  forever  honored. 

At  a  Town    meeting  held  "March  i  i6y4-5  Joseph    Uarnard   was 
chosen  Town  Clerk  for  the  year  iMisuing" 

*'Sept.  17,  1695  Thomas  ffrench  was  chosen  Town  Clerk" 
Between  these  entries  made  by  the  two  men  respectively, 
he  who  runs  may  read  the  tragedy  known  in  the  annals  of 
Deerfield  as  the  Massacre  at  Indian  iiridge.  The  births  of 
a  son  and  four  daughters  to  Thomas  and  Mary  Catlin  French, 
had  been  duly  registered  by  Joseph  Barnard.  When  his  hand 
wa.s^  stilled  in  death  by  a  shot  from  the  skulking  foe,  Thom- 
as French  took  up  the  pen  and  wrote  the  following: 

"Abigail,  daughter  to  Thomas  and   Mary  ffrench  was  born  ffeb 
28  1^97-8" 

^  "Jtrusha  and  Jemima   tw'ns,— daughters  To   M'  Jn"  and   Mrs. 
Eunice  Williams  were  Born  Sept.  3,  1701. 

Jerusha  (2nd)  Daughter  To  M-"  Jn"  and  M-'s  Eunice  Williams,  was 
Born  January  15,  1703-4. 

Jn"  son  to  Thomas  and  Mary  ffrench  was  born  ffeb.  i  1703-4I 
This  is  the  last  line  of  the  town  records  written  by  Thom- 
as French.     Minutes  of  a  town  meeting  held  late  in  April 
instead  of  in  March  that  year;  the  election  of  a  few  town 
officers,— notably  of  a  new  town  clerk;    the  following  and 

'From  the  Town  Records  of  Deerfield, 


gtMyifci|i 


280 


TRUE   STORIP:s   of   new   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


similar  entries  in  a  new  handwritinjj  upon  the  town  book, — 
these  are  all  the  record  left  by  the  afflicted  people  of  Deerfield 
of  the  sorrows  that  befell  them  on  the  29th  of  Felj.,  1 703-4. 

"jerufha  Williams  Daughter  to  M''  jn"  ^:  M''s  Eunice  Williams  was 
flain  y'^  29  of  ffebruary  1703 

Mrs  Eunis  Williams  wife  to  M^  Jn"  Williams  head  of  y''  Family 
was  flain  by  y"^  enemi  March  i   1704 

Jn"  ffrench  fon  to  Thomas  and  Mary  iTrench  w;  ..  fl.iyn  by  y''  Ene- 
my ffebruary  29,  1703-4 

Mary  ffrench  Wife  to  Thomas  ffrench  head  of  this  Family  was 
flain  by  y''  Enimie  March  9  1703-4' 

Our  fathers  were  men  of  few  words,  and  of  stern  endtir- 
ance.  They  believed  that  their  sufferings  were  the  result  of 
their  sins,  and  that  with  wise  and  beneficent  ptirpose,  did 
God  chastise  them.  To  Him  alone  they  poitred  forth  their 
souls, — never  in  complaint,  but  ever  in  prayer  that  they 
"might  be  prepared  to  sanctify  and  honor  Ilim  in  what  way 
soever  He  should  come  forth  towards  them'' — and  "have 
grace  to  glorify  His  name  whether  in  life  or  death."  More 
eloquent  than  speech  is  their  silence  in  relation  to  the  "awf  til 
desolations  of  that  day." 

Not  long  before  break  of  day  the  enemy  came  in  like  a 
flood  upon  thein.  Pouring  over  the  palisade  the  frightful 
tide  swept  on,  overwhelming  with  destruction  all  that  lay  in 
its  path.  The  morning  dawned  on  a  scene  of  horror.  Shar- 
ing the  fate  of  many  of  his  neighbors,  Mr.  John  Catlin  with 
his  son  Jonathan  lay  dead  among  the  smoking  embers  of 
their  ruined  home.  The  house  of  Thomas  French  was  gut- 
ted but  not  burned,  and  the  town  records  escaped  unharmed. 
The  meeting-house  that  so  lately  had  echoed  with  psalm  and 
prayer,  now  resounded  with  groans  of  anguish.  There  lay 
the  captives,  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  friends  and  kindred. 

'From  the  Town  Records  of  Deerfield. 


A    SCION   OF   THE   CHURCH    IN    DEERFIELD.  28 1 


There  too,  stretched  upon  the  hard  benches,  were  the  enemy's 
wounded.  There,  Hertel  de  Rouville  himself,  smarting  un- 
der his  hurt,  rushed  in  for  a  moment  to  cheer  his  wounded 
.brother,  to  whom  he  whispered  curses  on  the  savage  horde 
who  had  broken  their  promise  to  him  that  they  would  fight 
like  jivilized  Frenchmen. 

There  were  those  whom  we  saw  but  late,  so  proud  and 
happy.  Hannah  Chapin  tense  with  anxiety,  eagerly  listening 
for  every  sound,  while  her  husband,  young  John  Sheldon,  to 
whom  love  lent  wings,  was  flying  for  aid  to  Hatfield.  Eliza- 
beth Price  mute  with  woe,  for  Andrew,  the  Indian,  had  been 
slain  at  hef  side.  Abigail  Stebbins,  not  utterly  cast  down, 
for  De  Noyon,  her  father  and  inother,  and  sisters  and  brothers 
were  all  with  her,  and  De  Noyon  had  told  her  tnal  his  home 
was  near  Montreal,  and  that  they  would  soon  be  released. 
There  too,  bound  hand  and  foot  was  Thomas  French  with 
his  wife,  Mary  Catlin,  and  their  five  eldest  children.  A  few 
hours  completed  the  devastation.  The  sun  as  it  rose  above 
the  mountain,  looked  down  on  a  dread  ■  sight.  The  main 
body  of  the  enemy  with  their  sorrowful  captives  had  left  the 
town.  A  /ew  loth  to  cease  their  wanton  pillage  still  lingered, 
and  in  the  house  of  Benoni  Stebbins,  around  his  dead  body. 
Lieutenant  (Deacon)  David  Hoyt,  and  Joseph  Catlin,  with  four 
other  valiant  men  still  kept  at  bay  the  Macqua  chief  and  his 
followers. 

Roused  by  the  hoarse  cries  of  young  John  Sheldon,  as  he 
sped  on  bare  and  bleeding  feet  through  the  hamlets  below, 
thirty  men  on  horseback,  guided  by  the  light  of  the  burning 
village,  were  riding  fast  to  the  rescue.  As  they  entered  the 
stockade  the  foe  fled  precipitately  from  the  north  gate,  across 
the  frozen  meadows  to  the  northwest,  reaching  the  river  at 
the  Red  Rocks. 

Capt.  Wells  at  once  took  command  of  the  rescuing  party, 
reinforced  by  fifteen  of  his  neighbors  and  five  garrison  sol- 


^W>*»'>(B,',iM'WtgiMi 


282  TRUE   STORIES   OK   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

diers,  and  instantly  followed  up  the  enemy.  "Bravely  but 
rashly  and  without  order,"  I  quote  from  Mr.  Sheldon,  "the 
pursuers  rush  on,  intent  only  on  avenj^ini^  their  slaughtered 
friends.  As  they  warm  up  to  the  fight,  they  throw  off  gloves, 
coats,  hats,  waistcoats,  neckcloths.  Capt.  Wells  cannot  con- 
trol the  headlong  chase.  He  sees  the  danger  and  orders  a 
halt,  the  order  is  unheeded,  and  the  foe  is  followed  reckless- 
ly into  the  inevitable  ambuscade." 

Meanwhile  on  Meeting-house  Hill,  the  scanty  remnant  of 
the  townsfolk,  cautiously  creep  out  from  their  hiding  places, 
and  gather  in  knots  seeking  for  tidings.  As  the  dreadful 
tale  is  told,  they  know  not  whether  most  to  rejoice  or  to  la- 
ment that  they  have  been  left  behind.  Among  them  is  Mary 
Baldwin  Catlin.  While  waiting  with  her  children,  and  chil- 
dren's children,  the  order  to  march  into  captivity  she  had  as 
was  her  habit,  ministered  to  the  needs,  and  soothed  the  sor- 
rows of  her  friends  and  neighbors.  Nor  had  she  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  the  cry  of  her  enemy  for  help.  With  the  tender 
sympathy  of  a  Christian  woman,  she  had  held  the  cup  of  cold 
water  to  the  parched  lips  of  the  wounded  French  lieutenant, 
craving  it  with  piteous  appeal.  In  the  hurry  of  departure, 
either  by  design,  or  by  accident,  none  had  claimed  her  as  his 
captive.  Her  neighbors  look  upon  her  as  one  suddenly  risen 
from  the  dead.  They  go  with  her  to  her  desolated  home, 
where  she  learns  the  fate  of  her  husband,  and  of  her  second 
son.  They  find  her  little  grandson,  baby  John  French,  dead 
on  the  threshold  of  his  father's  empty  house.  When  some 
one  says  that  Captain  Wells  has  been  repulsed,  and  that 
Joseph  Catlin,  her  eldest  son,  has  fallen  in  the  meadow  fight, 
h'^r  heart  breaks.  A  Rachel,  mourning  for  her  children,  and 
would  not  be  comforted,  she  lingered  a  few  weeks,  and  died 
from  the  shock  of  that  day's  horror. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  Mary  Catlin,  wife  of  Thomas  French, 
was  killed  on  the  retreat  to  Canada.     Her  husband  with  all 


A    SCION    OF   THE    CHURCH    IN    DEERFIELI). 


283 


their  surviving  children,  Mary  aged  seventeen,  Thomas  four- 
teen, Freedom  eleven,  Martha,  eight  and  Abigail  six,  were 
carried  to  Montreal, 

Mary  French  and  her  brother  Thomas,  with  their  father, 
were  brought  back  to  Deerfield  in  1706  by  Ensign  John  Shel- 
don, in  his  second  expedition  to  Canada  for  the  redemption 
of  the  captives.  An  interesting  evidence  of  the  proneness 
of  Deerfield  maidens  to  versifying,  exists  in  a  poem  said 
to  have  been  written  by  Mary  French  to  a  younger  sis- 
ter during  the.  captivity,  in  the  fear  lest  the  latter 
might  become  a  Romanist.  Soon  after  his  return,  Thomas 
French  was  made  Deacon  of  the  church  in  Deerfield  in  place 
of  Deacon  David  Hoyt,  who  had  died  of  starvation  at 
Coos  on  the  march  to  Canada.  In  1709,  Deacon  French 
married  the  widow  of  Benoni  Stebbins.  He  died  in  1733  at 
the  age  of  seventy  six,  respected  and  regretted  as  an  honest 
and  useful  man  and  a  pillar  of  the  church  and  state. 

To  his  great  grief  all  efforts  for  the  redemption  of  his 
three  daughters  had  failed.  On  her  arrival  in  Canada,  Free- 
dom was  placed  in  the  family  of  a  French  merchant  in  Mon- 
treal, and  in  1 706  was  baptized  as  Marie  Franyoise,  the  Puri- 
tanic name  by  which  she  had  been  known  in  Deerfield,  be- 
ing thus  forever  set  aside.  In  171 3,  she  married  Jean  Dave- 
luy  of  the  village  of  St.  Lambert,  and  thus  became  the  an- 
cestress of  many  French  Canadian  families  of  excellent  re- 
pute. 

Martha  French  was  given  by  her  Indian  captors  to  the 
Sisters  of  the  Congregation  de  Notre  Dame  at  Montreal.  In 
1707,  she  was  baptized,  sous  condition,  receiving  from  her 
god-mother  the  name  of  Marguerite.  At  the  age  of  sixteen, 
she  was  married  to  Jacques  Roi,  also  of  St.  Lambert.  Ma- 
rie Franyoise  French  was  present  at  her  sister's  wedding, 
and  the  autographs  of  the  two  sisters  on  the  marriage  regis- 
ter, are  as  clear  to-day  as  when  first  written.     The  names  of 


284  TRUE    STORIES   OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

the  bride's  parents  are  given  in  full  and  Thomas  French  is 
called  "t-Av-f  on  notairc  dc  Dicrfildc"  in  New  England. 

Bin(;RAPIIlCAI.   SKETCH    OF   JOSEPH-OCTAVE    PLESSIS. 

On  the  third  of  ^lay,  1733,  just  one  month  from  the  day 
of  her  father's  death  in  Deerfield,  Martha  Marguerite  French, 
widow  of  Jacques  Roi,  signed  her  second  marriage  contract, 
and  the  following  day  married  Jean  Louis  Menard,  at  St. 
Laurent,  a  parish  of  Montreal.  Nineteen  years  later,  her 
daughter  Louise  Menard,  was  married  at  Montreal  to  Joseph- 
Amable  Plessis  called  Belair. 

The  ancestor  of  Plessis,  the  first  of  the  name  in  Canada,  emi- 
grating from  Metz  in  Lorraine  in  the  beginning  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  took  up  his  abode  in  the  outskirts  of  Montreal. 
There  he,  and  his  son  after  him,  carried  on  the  trade  of  tan- 
ning, and  the  place  to  this  day  is  known  as  "The  Tanneries 
of  Belair."  At  Montreal  on  the  3rd  of  March,  1763,  Joseph- 
Octave,  son  of  Joseph-Amablc  Plessis  and  Louise  Menard, 
grandson  of  ]\lartha  and  great-grandson  of  Deacon  Thomas 
French,  was  born. 

The  boy  was  fortunate  in  his  parentage.  His  father  and 
mother  cultivated  the  old  fashioned  viitues  of  simplicity, 
honesty  and  devoiitness.  His  father  was  a  blacksmith,  so- 
called.  Near  one  of  the  city  gates,  Joseph-Amable  Plessis 
had  a  large  shop,  where  he  made  axes,  hammers,  hinges,  and 
all  the  iron  implements  in  use  in  a  new  country.  He  had 
many  apprentices  and  was  chiefly  occupied  in  making  hatch- 
ets for  trade  with  the  savages.  Discipline,  industry  and  sys- 
tem reigned  over  his  workshop.  Irregularity,  idleness  and 
disorder  he  would  not  tolerate.  The  work  of  the  forge  for 
the  year,  was  planned  in  advance,  and  the  order  never 
changed.     A  devout  Catholic,  determined  to  secure  for  him- 


A   SCION   OF   THE   CHURCH    IN    DEERFIELD.  285 


self  and  his  employes  a  faithful  observance  of  the  fasts  of  his 
church,  he  humanely  and  with  <^ood  business  foresight, 
adapted  his  work  to  the  conditions.  In  the  Lenten  season 
the  heavy  hammers  of  the  forge  were  silent  and  the  men 
took  up  the  lighter  labor  of  sharpening  and  polishing  the 
axes  that  had  been  made  in  the  autumn  and  winter  and 
stored  away  unfinished.  Once  a  month  the  father  sent  his 
sons  and  apprentices  to  the  parish  priest  for  confession. 
The  mother  took  care  that  the  religious  duties  of  her  daugh- 
ters and  domestics  were  duly  performed.  On  vSundays  and 
fete  days  the  whole  household  went  together  to  the  parish 
church.  The  children  were  taught  reading  and  tlieir  first 
catechism  by  the  mother,  who  also  trained  them  in  habits  of 
economy  and  order. 

From  the  teaching  and  example  of  such  parents,  Joseph 
Octave  Plessis  learned  early  to  love  labor,  to  be  diligent,  to 
be  orderly  and  economical  in  the  arrangement  of  his  time 
and  affairs,  firm  in  self  discipline,  and  honest  and  upright  in 
his  dealings.  Though  by  nature  merry  and  gay,  the  boy 
was  thoughtful  and  dignified  beyond  his  years,  and  soon 
showed  such  a  desire  to  learn  that  his  parents  put  him  in  a 
primary  school,  founded  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  Seminary 
of  Saint-Sulpice.  Here,  Joseph  made  such  progress  that  he 
was  soon  promoted  to  a  Latin  School  kept  in  the  old  Chateau 
Vaudreuil.  Here  he  tried  the  patience  of  good  father  Cura- 
teau  by  his  dulness  in  his  Latin  grammar  which  he  hated, 
though  he  showed  a  fondness  for  Geography,  History  and 
Literature. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  his  course  at  the  Latin  school, 
he  astonished  his  father  one  morning,  by  the  announcement 
that  he  was  disgusted  with  study,  and  that  he  would  much 
rather  stay  at  home  than  take  up  logic  and  metaphysics. 
The  conduct  of  the  father  on  this  occasion,  shows  him  to 
have  been  a  remarkable  man.     Without  the  least  intention 


iHnia  iiu mim^B^mmmimmmm 


286  TRUE    STORIES    OF   NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


of  permittins^  the  shipwreck  of  the  boy's  intellectual  career, 
he  had  too  much  sense  to  oppose  or  argue  with  him.  "Very 
well,  my  son,"  he  replied,  "take  off  your  scholar's  gown,  put 
on  one  of  the  boy's  aprons,  and  go  into  the  shop.  There  is 
work  enough  there  to  keep  you  busy.  When  you  wish  to 
go  back  to  your  books  let  me  know."  To  the  lad,  his  fa- 
ther's word  was  law,  and  with  a  heavy  heart,  he  went  his 
way  to  the  shop,  where  he  worked  pluckily  for  a  week, 
though  every  bone  in  his  little  body  ached  with  the  unusual 
fatigue.  Then  without  a  word  of  complaint  he  threw  off  his 
apron,  donned  his  ca/yo/c  Rud  marched  back  to  school,  a  wiser 
and  a  happier  boy. 

At  fifteen,  with  his  brother  and  one  or  two  comrades,  he 
was  sent  to  the  Seminary  in  Quebec,  which  then  offered 
greater  advantages  than  that  of  Montreal.  Communication 
between  the  two  cities  was  difficult  and  infrequent.  The 
choice  lay  between  a  schooner,  which  could  not  always  be 
had,  and  a  wagon,  which  was  too  expensive.  Such  was  the 
delay  and  uncertainty,  that  it  often  happened  that  the  little 
fellows  would  not  reach  their  homes  in  Montreal  till  vacation 
was  ended.  Every  year  the  Grand  Vicar  wrote  from  Mon- 
treal to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  "The  Montreal  boys  cannot 
be  in  Quebec  at  the  opening  of  the  course."  Sometimes  the 
more  spirited  boys  took  the  matter  into  their  own  hands, 
and  set  out  on  foot  for  home  at  the  beginning  of  the  holi- 
days. Picture  Joseph-Octave  and  his  friends  ready  for  an 
early  start  on  a  fine  summer  morning.  In  the  uniform  of 
the  Seminary  boy,  a  long,  black  frock  coat,  many  seamed 
and  welted  with  white  ;  a  green  sash  ;  a  flat-topped  cloth 
cap,  with  broad  leather  visor, — each  boy  with  his  little  deer- 
skin pack  between  his  shoulders.  First  to  the  chapel  for 
prayers  to  the  protectress  of  pilgrims,  thence  to  the  court 
yard  of  the  Seminary,  where,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  their 
fellows,  they  cheer  the  time-honored  walls.     Pouring  through 


A   SCION   OF   THE  CHURCH    IN   DEERFIELD.  287 


the  great  gate,  they  run  joyously  down  the  steep  hill  to  the 
river,  and  following  it  to  the  west,  singing  gay  chansons  as 
they  go,  they  soon  reach  the  open  country.  At  sunset  they 
seek  the  nearest  farmhouse,  sure  of  a  kindly  welcome.  The 
best  room  with  its  plain  deal  chairs  and  settle,  its  clumsy 
stove,  and  its  bare  floor  with  rag  mats,  is  thrown  open  for 
them  to  rest  in.  Camping  at  night  on  the  new-mown  hay 
in  the  long  barn,  they  rise  at  dawn  to  a  breakfast  of  ome- 
lettes and  black  bread.  The  generous  lads  lling  down  a 
handful  of  coppers  to  the  habitant's  wife,  but  she  is  not  to 
be  outdone  in  courtesy,  ''Non,  non  messieurs,"  she  is  too  glad 
to  give  her  best  to  the  young  gentlemen  of  the  Seminary, 
and  oli  they  start  again  followed  by  her  blessing  and  her 
prayers. 

The  career  of  Joseph-Octave  Plessis  at  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec,  is  thus  summed  up  by  one  who  knew  him  well : 
"Study  had  no  difficulties  that  he  did  not  level,  nothing  dis- 
tasteful for  which  he  did  not  conquer  his  disrelish,  no  ob- 
stacles that  he  did  not  overcome."  Though  this  may  be  ex- 
aggerated praise,  it  is  certain  that  Joseph  was  an  intelligent, 
industrious  and  ambitious  pupil,  respected  by  his  comrades 
and  beloved  by  his  teachers. 

Born  at  the  most  critical  period  in  the  history  of  Canada, 
at  the  time  of  its  cession  to  the  English,  this  serious  and 
thoughtful  boy  reflected  much  upon  how  he  could  best  serve 
his  country.  Two  careers  were  open  to  him  ;  the  bar  and 
the  church.  The  former  meant  the  delights  of  the  world,  a 
home,  wife,  children,  wealth,  the  adulation  of  friends,  office, 
success.  The  latter,  a  solitary  life  with  its  austerities,  its 
poverty,  and  its  possible  compensations  to  an  exalted  nature. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  Joseph  decided  to  become  a  priest. 
It  is  not  likely  that  the  youth  comprehended  the  greatness 
of  the  sacrifice,  which,  later,  a  man  of  his  temperament  must 
inevitably  have  realized.     Having  received  the  tonsure  from 


^PP^IIHSS^^P^^ 


288  TKUK   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


Bishop  Briand,  who  had  watched  his  development  with  a  fa- 
therly interest,  he  was  sent  to  the  college  of  Montreal  to 
teach  till  he  could  take  orders.  Though  qualified  in  other 
respects  for  the  place,  young  Plessis  found  to  his  great  mor- 
tification, that  two  of  his  pupils  were  ahead  of  him  in  Latin. 
Nothing  daunted,  however,  he  set  to  work,  and  in  two  weeks 
mastered  the  Latin  grammar  so  that  forty  years  after  he 
could  repeat  pages  of  it  verbatim.  We  have  here  the  key  to 
his  future  success.  Indomitable  will,  genuineness,  willing- 
ness to  work.  His  pupils  soon  learned  to  respect  him.  Such 
a  teacher  will  always  be  respected.  He  became  so  fond  of 
his  profession,  that  to  the  last  day  of  his  life,  in  the  midst  of 
his  most  brilliant  successes,  he  did  not  cease  to  regret  that 
he  had  given  it  up.  From  this  time  he  became  fond  of  the 
old  Latin  writers,  and  liked  to  recite  many  of  the  odes  of 
Horace.  In  1783,  though  still  too  young  to  take  orders,  he 
was  called  by  Bishop  Briand  to  be  Secretary  of  the  diocese 
of  Quebec.  The  duties  of  this  office,  in  a  diocese  extending 
from  New  Orleans  to  the  coast  of  Labrador,  were  con:  plicated 
and  onerous.  The  Bishop  himself  was  ill.  His  coadjutt)r, 
Mgr.  D'Esgly,  lived  at  a  distance  and  was,  moreover,  aged 
and  infirm.  Plessis's  prudence  and  good  judgment,  with 
the  business-like  habits  to  which  he  had  been  trained,  made 
him  equal  to  his  task.  He  lived  with  the  Bishop,  venerated 
him  as  a  father,  and  was  beloved  and  trusted  as  a  son.  The 
Bishop  had  been  a  careful  student  of  men  and  affairs.  He 
talked  earnestly  with  his  secretary  about  the  causes  that  had 
led  to  the  fall  of  the  French  dominion  in  Canada  and  ana- 
lyzed with  him  the  character  of  the  men  who  had  held  the 
reins  of  government  at  the  time  of  the  ce.ssion.  It  is  safe  to 
say,  that  the  affectionate  intercourse  between  the  good  Bish- 
op and  his  secretary,  was  the  foundation  of  the  distinction 
finally  attained  by  the  latter. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  Plessis  was  ordained  priest, 


I 


A   SCION   OF  TFIE   CHURCH    IN   DEERFIELD.  289 

and  six  years  later,  while  still  fulfilling  the  duties  of  seere- 
tary,  he  was  made  cure  oi  Ouebee.  Nothing  is  more  trying 
than  to  beeome  the  sueeessor  in  offiee  of  one  who  has  l)een 
long  considered  as  the  embodiment  of  fitness  and  nobility  in 
his  position.  Monsieur  Hubert,  the  predecessor  of  IMessis, 
was  the  idol  of  his  parish.  His  fine  intellect  and  physical 
beauty,  with  the  added  charm  of  an  affable  manner,  gentle- 
ness and  consideration  for  others,  had  endeared  him  to  all 
classes.  Plessis,  in  these  trying  circumstances,  behaved  with 
credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  His  labors  at 
this  time  wre  very  severe.  He  rose  at  four  in  the  morning, 
and  rarely  went  to  bed  before  midnight.  This  short  rest 
was  often  disturbed  by  his  duties  as  iiiri\  which  called  him 
to  the  sick  and  dying.  Eager  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge, 
he  resolutely  devoted  one  whole  night  of  every  week  to 
study.  His  youth  and  good  health  at  first  upheld  him,  but 
after  three  or  four  months  of  it,  he  found  himself  so  sleepy 
the  next  day  that  he  gained  nothing  by  the  practice,  and 
wisely  gave  it  up. 

The  youth  of  his  parish  were  his  tender  care.  He  never 
lost  sight  of  them,  but  watched  their  conduct,  and  gave  them 
good  advice  as  they  grew  up.  To  those  who  were  too  fond 
of  dancing,  he  liked  to  quote  the  words  of  vSaint  Francis  de 
Sales, — "I  say  about  balls,  what  the  doctors  say  about  mush- 
rooms,—the  best  of  them  are  good  for  nothing."  Education 
occupied  much  of  his  thought,  particularly  that  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  He  founded  schools  in  the  suburbs  of  Ouebee, 
chose  the  masters,  and  personally  supervised  the  classes. 
When  he  found  an  especially  bright  child,  he  urged  the  par- 
ents to  send  it  to  college,  and  if  poverty  was  pleaded  as  ex- 
cuse, his  own  scanty  purse  supplied  the  means.  He  took  one 
child  into  his  own  house  and  himself  taught  him  for  a  year 
and  a  half.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  he  speaks  of  this  boy 
with  fond  praise,  and  encloses  with  pride  a  ''rondeau  com- 


290  TkUK    SIOUIKS    ()|-    NKW    KNdl.ANl)   CAI'll VKS. 

posed  by  my  Rrini"  us  he  affectionately  calls  him.  He  sent 
him  to  coiiej^e,  but  after  finishinjjf  his  studies,  the  yoiiiifjf 
man  was  unwillinj^  to  enter  the  church  for  which  his  bene- 
factor had  destined  him,  and  the  j^ood  r/z/v*"  {generously  made 
it  easy  for  him  to  study  law.  He  became  afterwards  Chief 
Justice  of  Lower  Canada. 

The  first  state  i)aper  of  I'lessis  upholds  parochial  schools 
a}j^ainst  a  proposition  by  the  government  toestcablish  a  mixed 
college  on  ecpial  terms  for  l^rotestants  and  Catholics.  Plessis 
s(>es  in  this  a  blow  aimed  at  the  French  lantruaj^e  nnd  reli^^- 
ion  ;  asks  what  place  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Oucbec  is  to 
hold  in  the  proposed  institution  ;  reminds  the  administra- 
tion that  the  Jesuits  had  already  a  j^ood  colles^e,  where  the 
boys  are  tauj.jht  reading,  writin^^  and  arithmetic,  -and  with 
keen  satire,  expresses  his  surprise  that  a  government  so  zeal- 
ous for  the  education  of  Canadian  youth  should  have  appro- 
priated this  building"  for  its  Bureau  of  Archives. 

As  a  preacher  Msgr.  Plessis  lacked  that  personal  magnet- 
ism which  touches  and  captivates  an  audience.  His  lan- 
guage was  simple,  his  manner  earnest.  He  was  not  a  brill- 
iant orator,  though  in  many  of  his  occasional  sermons  he 
rises  to  eloquence,  as  in  that  on  Nelson's  Victory  of  the  Nile. 
As  an  example  of  his  energy,  he  mastered  English  in  a  few 
months,  in  order  to  keep  within  his  fold  some  English  Cath- 
olic families  of  his  parish.  He  sometimes  preached  in  Eng- 
lish, but  he  never  pronounced  it  well. 

I  will  not  detail  the  steps  by  which  Martha  French's  grand- 
son rose  from  being  choir  boy  in  the  cathedral  of  Montreal, 
to  become  Bishop  of  the  vast  diocese  of  Ouebec.  In  thank- 
ing a  friend  who  wished  him  joy  and  peace  in  his  new  of- 
fice, M.  Plessis  replied,  "It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
happiness  of  a  Bishop  on  earth  is  anything  but  a  series  of 
diiiliculties  and  cro.sses  by  which  he  may  be  fitted  for  eternal 
glory."     He  saw  the  struggle  that  was  before  him.     A  weak- 


A  SCION  ()     nil';  ciiuk(  II  in  dkkki'II';!,!). 


29 1 


cr  man  would  have  shrunk  from  the  contest.  He  nerved 
himself  to  meet  it,  and  his  foresi^^-ht  and  prudeiiee,  liis  mod- 
eration and  eandor,  his  forbearance  and  s. it-control,  his  in- 
telli};"cnee  and  his  courajj^e,— carried  him  safely  and  triumph- 
antly throtij^h,  and  made  him  and  his  cause  respected  by  all. 
To  understand  his  position  we  must  5.^0  back  a  little. 

The  treaty  of  1763,  nominally  secured  to  the  I'rench  Ca- 
nadians the  free  exercise  of  their  relij^ion,  and  to  the  clerj^y, 
their  customary  dues  and  rijjfhts  from  the  Catholic  pco[)le  of 
Canada.  So  lonj.^  as  both  parties  desired  t(;  maintain  a  j^ood 
understanding  and  friendly  relations  with  one  another  ;  so 
lon;^'  as  the  French  Catholic  Hisliop  was  moderate  in  his  de- 
mands, and  loyal  to  the  kin^;  so  lonj^  as  the  iCnj^-lish  Prot- 
estant (Governor  was  conciliatory,  and  disposed  to  allow  the 
French  reasonable  freedom  in  the  exercise  of  their  rclij^cion, 
all  was  well.  This  had  l)ccn  the  state  of  affairs  between 
I^ishop  Briand  and  vSir  (uiy  Carleton.  Indeed  the  latter,  in 
1775,  publicly  declared  that  the  preservation  of  the  province 
of  yuebec  to  llreat  P)ritain  was  due  to  the  loyalty  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  clerjj^y  ;  and  the  P>ishoi)  was  left  undisturbed 
in  his  ancient  preroj^ative  of  creatini^  parishes  and  appoint- 
ing ciiri's.  The  two  Bishops  after  Briand  had  enjoyed  the 
same  liberty  unchallenged.  On  the  election  of  Mcmseigneur 
Denaut  as  Bishop,  Governor  Prescott  asked  that  a  list  of  the 
cure's  appointed  during  the  year  sh(nild  be  annually  sent 
him,  in  order  that  he  might  render  an  account  to  the  minis- 
ter, if  necessary.  In  preferring  this  request,  he  assured  the 
Bishop  that  he  wcjuld  be  left  free  to  act  in  all  other  matters. 
All  the  Bishops  since  the  cession  as  before,  in  their  private 
letters  and  public  documents,  had  very  properly  signed  them- 
selves Bishops  of  Quebec.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Dr. 
Mountain  arrived  in  Quebec  with  his  commission  from  the 
king  as  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  church  of  Quebec.  vStill  the 
Catholic  Bishop  continued  to  issue  his  letters  and  circulars 


292 


rUUli    STORlliS   (JF    NliVV    liNGLAND    CAl'TIVKS. 


as  Hishop  of  (Jucbcc.  The  clou'ls  bcj;an  to  jif.'itlicr.  The 
anti-Catholic  faction  which  had  always  existed  in  the  eolon- 
ial  ^•ovcrnnuiit,  hut  had  heretofore  l)een  held  in  abeyance 
by  the  harmony  existinj^'  between  the  Oovernor  and  the 
Bishoj).  be«^an  to  act  more  openly.  We  have  seen  the  spe- 
cious project  of  a  mixed  collej^e,  involvinii^  the  rij^ht  to  seize 
the  jiropcrty  of  the  Jesuits  and  Sulpitians,  and  to  put  all  the 
educational  interests  of  a  Catholic  poj)ulation  of  two  hundred 
thousand  souls  into  the  hands  of  a  Protestant  board  of  di- 
rectors, with  the  Anj^liean  Bishop  at  the  head. 

The  most  bitter  of  the  anti-Catliolic  faction  was  Ryland, 
the  (iovcrnor's  secretary,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  avow  his 
contempt  and  detestation  of  that  relij^ion.  In  a  letter  writ- 
ten in  1S04,  he  declared  his  belief  that  Catholicism  could  be 
annihilated  in  Canada  within  ten  years,  and  the  kiui^'s  su- 
premacy established.  In  Plessis,  as  the  defender  of  the 
rights  of  French  Canadians,  Ryland  reco^'ni^^ed  a  formidable 
antaj;'onist,  and  tried  by  intriy^ue  with  the  home  govern- 
ment, to  overthrow  and  deo;rade  him.  The  Attorney-Cjcner- 
al  vSewall  shared  Ryland's  feelintj,  and  pronounced  a  decision 
in  the  courts  that  the  government  had  the  sole  right  of  cre- 
ating parishes  and  of  electing  ciifi's ;  that  all  those  created 
since  1  7(^)3,  were  null  and  void,  and  that  such  a  thing  as  a 
Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Quebec  did  not  exist.  The  Lord- 
Bishop,  after  tendering  his  resignation,  on  the  plea  that  the 
right  to  elect  curates  was  denied  him,  that  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  Romish  church  publicly  assumed  the  title  of  Bish- 
op of  Ouebce,  while  at  the  same  time  the  said  superintend- 
ent and  his  clergy  took  special  care  not  to  give  him  this  ti- 
tle, set  out  for  England  to  lay  his  complaints  before  the 
king. 

This  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  in  1806,  Plessis  became 
Bishop  of  Ouebee.  Fortunately  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
then  acting  Governor  and  a  devoted  adherent  of  the  English 


A   SCION    OF   TIIK   CHURCH    IN    DKKKl'IKM). 


293 


church  and  its  P>ish()p,  was  also  in  Kn<,^lan(l.  and  lli()u<,di  Ry- 
land  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  Plessis  from  l)cinj^  allowed 
to  style  himself  Bishop  of  Ouehec  in  takin-^-the  oath  of  fidel 
ity  to  the  kii"^,  the  chief  councillor  in  char^^c  of  affairs  in 
the  (rovcrnor's  absence,  admitted  .lie  oath.  Plessis  fullv 
understood  the  situation.  He  had  always  seen,  as  few  had. 
how  easy  it  woidd  be  for  a  tyrannical  colonial  government 
to  evade  that  clause  of  the  treaty,  permittint^-  to  the  Cana- 
dians the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion.  lie  felt,  too, 
that  that  clause  had  been  nullified  l)y  Parliament  in  the  act 
of  1774.  The  destiny  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Canada  was 
committed  to  his  hands.  There  were  rocks  on  either  side. 
The  helm  must  be  firmly  f,n*asped,  the  ship  steered  straio-ht. 
Single-handed  he  must  fig-ht  a<,^ainst  three  of  its  most  bitter 
enemies.  Tact,  caution,  discretion,  patience,  .self-control, 
firmness,— these  must  be  his  weapons.  Tov/ards  the  last  of 
his  li^e  he  said  to  one  of  his  vicars  involved  in  ecclesiastical 
strife,  "Foolish  speeches  are  for  those  who  make  them.  Do 
not  let  their  bad  conduct  vex  you.  Continue  to  act  with 
charity  and  forbearance.  In  every  contention,  happy  is  he 
who  knows  how  to  keep  good  behavior  on  his  side."  This 
was  the  lesson  he  had  learned  in  his  lon<^  strug'o-le. 

During  the  ten  years'  contest  between  the  olifieers  of  the 
crown  and  Plessis,  he  was  often  summoned  to  discussion  with 
them  concerning  the  king's  prerogative.  In  his  arguments, 
one  hears  now  a  Roger  Williams,  advocating  obedience  to 
the  higher  law,— and  then  the  civil  service  reformer,  oppos- 
ing bribery  and  corruption  in  politics,  and  demanding  the 
complete  separation  of  church  and  state.  Inflexible  as  Lav- 
al in  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  church,  his  methods 
were  better.  L,',>v' 1  was  bigoted  and  imperious;  Plessis, 
liberal  and  conciliatory.  Aggression  was  the  mission  of  the 
former,  mediation  of  the  latter.  In  these  disputes  with  the 
Governor  and  Council,  he  never  lost  his  temper,  and  only 


294  TRUE    STORIES    OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

once  does  he  allude  to  his  personal  feelings.  At  the  end  of 
a  long  diseussion  with  Craig,  he  says,  "It  has  been  the  prin- 
ciple of  my  life  to  support  the  government  in  every  way 
that  I  can  conscientiously  do  so.  No  one  is  more  loyal,  more 
obedient  to  the  law  of  the  land  than  I  am,  and  having  done 
as  much  as  my  predecessors  for  the  service  of  the  govern- 
ment, I  hoped  that  the  government  would  not  treat  me 
worse  than  it  had  treated  them." 

To  efface  the  bad  impression  left  by  Craig  upon  the  minds 
of  the  French  Canadians,  Sir  George  Prevost,  a  man  of  very 
different  stamp,  was  made  his  successor.  Doubtless  instruct- 
ed  to  adopt  a  conciliatory  policy  toward  the  French,  educat- 
ed by  the  mistakes  of  his  predecessor  in  office,  and  perhaps 
believing  that  the  time  had  come,  when  a  slight  concession 
from  the  Bishop  would  forever  settle  the  vexwd  question  of 
siipremacy,  the  new  Governor,  as  Plessis  was  about  to  de- 
part for  the  missions  of  the  Gulf,  addressed  him  as  follows  : 
"I  have  received  despatches  from  England.  The  govern- 
ment desires  to  place  you  on  a  more  respectable  footing,  but 
it  is  expected  that  you  yourself  will  name  the  conditions. 
Let  me  have  your  ideas  on  this  suoject  before  your  depart- 
ure. We  must  provide  for  everything  and  ha^^e  a  good  un- 
derstanding." 

Plessis  had  remained  unmoved  by  the  intrigues  of  Ryland 
and  the  threats  of  Craig.  Temptation  came  to  him  now  in 
a  new  form.  It  wou'd  have  been  easy  for  a  man  of  weaker 
principles  to  have  persuaded  himself  that  he  had  borne  and 
foregone  enough  ;  that  he  had  stood  long  enough  in  the 
breach  ;  that  with  a  Governor  as  well  disposed  as  Sir  Cieorge 
Prevost,  a  merely  nominal  surrender  would  secure  to  himself 
all  the  honors,  privileges  and  emoluments  of  his  position  ; 
that  he  had  earned  the  right  to  ease  and  repose,  and  might 
now  claim  the  reward  of  his  services.  Rut  Bishop  Plessis 
was  not  the  man  to  shirk  responsibility  for  the  present  upon 


A    SCION    OF   THE    CHURCH    I\    DKERFIELD. 


295 


the  future.  His  fidelity  to  what  he  believed  right  was  un- 
compromising-. As  if  to  fortify  himself  at  the  outset  against 
the  sophistry  of  such  arguments,  he  wrote  to  the  Governor : 
"I  shall  have  the  honor  to  send  your  Lordship  a  statement 
of  my  views,  but  I  must  declare  in  advance  that  no  temporal 
offer  will  induce  me  to  renounce  any  part  of  my  spiritual 
jurisdiction.  It  is  not  mine  to  make  way  with.  I  hold  it  as 
a  sacred  trust  of  which  I  must  render  an  account." 

The  memorial  that  follows  defining  the  position  and  rights 
of  the  Catholic  Bishops  of  Quebec,  past,  present  and  future, 
is  a  masterpiece  of  good  sense,  sound  reasoning,  candor  and 
justice. 

During  the  Bishop's  absence  at  the  missions  of  the  gulf, 
the  war  of  1 8 1 2  broke  out.  On  his  return  to  Quebec  he  found 
all  Canada  in  a  state  of  great  excitement.  The  government 
had  been  forced  to  appeal  to  the  Canadians,  the  same  Cana- 
dians whom  Ryland  and  his  friends  had  chosen  to  represent  as 
continually  on  the  eve  of  revolt,  for  aid  to  resist  the  entrance 
into  Canada  of  American  troops.  The  French  Canadians  re- 
sponded nobly  to  the  Governor's  appeal.  This  was  Plessis' 
-upreme  moment.  Mandements.  addresses,  circulars,  pas- 
toral letters  fly  fast  from  his  pen.  Letters  to  the  people  at 
home  and  in  the  rcuks  ;  letters  of  comfort  to  the  women  and 
children  temporarily  bereft  of  husbands  and  fathers  in  their 
country's  service ;  letters  to  the  militia,  exhorting  them  to 
loyalty,  patriotism  and  piety  ;  letters  to  his  ciin's,  thanking 
and  encouraging  them  to  stand  by  the  government.  Circu- 
lars and  mondements  providing  not  only  for  the  immediate 
wants  of  those  left  behind,  but  for  possib.^  /amine  in  the  fu- 
ture in  consequence  of  fields  untilledand  harvests  ungathered 
in  time  of  war. 

Full  recognition  of  the  Bishop's  services  was  made  by  Sir 
George  Prevost  to  the  home  government,  and  in  181 3,  the 
Prince  Regent  in  the  name  of  the  king  decreed  to  the  Bishop 


29'J  TRUE   srORlKS   OK    NIOW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVEfi. 


of  Quebec  an  allowance  of  ^looo  per  annum,  as  a  testimony 
to  his  loyalty  and  ^ood  conduct.  Plessis  had  his  private 
satisfaction  from  his  opponents  if  he  desired  it,  when  Ryland 
as  clerk  of  the  Executive  Council  had  to  name  him  as  Bishop 
of  Ouebec. 

His  triumph  was  complete  when  in  icSi/,  he  was  appointed 
by  the  crown  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Can- 
ada. 

To  this  hasty  sketch  of  his  public  career  let  me  add  a 
glimpse  of  the  private  life  of  this  remarkable  man.  Though 
short  in  stature,  he  was  of  commanding  presence.  His  fine 
head  was  well  set  on  his  broad  shoulders.  His  forehead  was 
noble,  his  eyes  dark  and  piercing.  His  mouth  was  firm  and 
decided,  but  his  expression  was  kindly.  In  his  face,  as  in 
his  character,  are  many  traits  of  striking  resemblance  to 
some  of  his  race  whom  we  have  known  in  Deerfield.  Be- 
neath his  grave  exterior  was  a  fund  of  gaycty  that  won  him 
the  love  of  children  and  youth.  A  clerical  friend  remembers 
having  been  carried  when  a  child  of  five  to  see  the  great 
Bishop,  who  took  him  on  his  lap  saying,  "Come  now,  sing  to 
me,— sing  me  all  your  little  songs."  On  his  visits  to  college 
and  convent,  the  pupils  gathered  freely  about  him.  He  told 
them  stories  and  taught  them  the  games  and  songs  of  his 
boyhood.  Affectionate  and  sensitive,  he  was  equally  suscep- 
tible to  kindness  and  injury,  and  easily  moved  to  tears  or 
laughter.  His  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous  came  near  be- 
traying him  into  untimely  mirth  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
In  a  small  parish  church,  towards  the  close  of  one  of  his 
most  serious  discourses,  his  eye  fell  upon  one  of  those  crude 
paintings  which  at  that  period  adorned  the  country  church- 
es. A  purple  sky,  with  sun,  moon  and  stars.  Saint-Michael 
in  red  coat,  blue  trousers  and  heavy  riding  boots,  winging 
his  way  with  flaming  sword  to  earth  and  about  to  crush  with 
heavy  heel  the  big  nose  of  Lucifer,  while  the  latter  parries 


A   SCION   OF   THE   CHURCH    IX    DEEFU-^IELD.  297 

the  blow  with  his  horns.  The  preacher's  gaze  was  riveted. 
Feeling  that  he  must  laugh  outright  he  sat  down ;  rose 
again,  coughed, — abruptly  wound  up  his  sermon,  and  rush- 
ing to  the  sacristy  burst  into  prolonged  laughter. 

The  daily  routine  of  the  Bishop  was  much  the  same  as 
when  he  was  curate.  He  was  in  his  office  by  half-past  seven 
in  the  morning,  and  did  not  leave  it,  except  for  his  devo- 
tions and  the  mid-day  meal,  till  supper  time.  After  that,  he 
gave  himself  up  for  an  hour  to  a  pleasant  chat  with  his  priests. 
He  was  witty,  with  a  fine  appreciation  of  liunKn*;  a  brilLant 
talker,  told  a  good  story,  and  liked  a  joke  even  though  he 
himself  was  the  victim.  He  used  to  tell  witli  glee,  how  af- 
ter giving  an  hour  of  good  advice  in  English,  to  an  old 
Irishwoman,  she  suddenly  silenced  him  by  saying  that  she 
didn't  understand  a  word  of  French.  His  methodical  busi- 
ness habits  rendered  possible  his  immense  correspondence. 
He  never  let  affairs  accumulate  on  his  hands.  Volumes  of 
his  manuscript  letters  are  carefully  preserved.  Letters  to 
his  clergy  on  every  imaginable  subject  concerning  the  phys- 
ical and  spiritual  welfare  of  his  people  ;  on  education,  moral 
and  intellectual ;  on  vaccination,  and  the  state  of  the  crops. 
Letters  to  the  Ursuline  sisters,  playful  and  affectionate  like 
those  of  a  father  to  his  daughters.  "In  his  very  familiarity," 
says  one,  "there  was  something  indefinable  commanding  re- 
spect. If  we  were  entirely  at  our  ease  with  Monseignieur 
Plessis,  we  never  could  forget  that  he  was  our  .Superior  and 
our  Bishop."  Writing,  on  a  voyage  to  the  Gulf  he  says, 
"Your  prayers  have  sustained  me  wonderfully  up  to  this  mo- 
ment, though  they  have  not  prevented  my  having  pretty 
strong  doses  of  sea-sickness  several  times.  So  you  have  not 
besought  Heaven  to  calm  the  waves  and  make  the  wind 
blow  as  softly  as  one  of  your  lay  sisters  blows  t(j  kindle  the 
fire  in  the  morning.  This  breath  of  ocean  is  far  mightier, 
and  makes  my  poor  little  schooner  roll  so  as  to  break  dishes 


298 


IKUI';    Sl'OklKS    ()|-    NKW    i;\(;i,AM)    CAI'IIVKS. 


and  IjotLles.  All  this,  however,  has  no  lasLinj^' cITcct  on  one's 
health.  As  soon  as  one  lands  the  misery  is  over,  and  we  will 
not  s])eak  of  the  inconveniences  of  life  especially  since  we 
know  wc-  deserve  so  much  woi'se  ihin^^s." 

JM-oni  the  Ma;4'da1en  Islands  he  wi-ites,  "Here  tlu'i'e  are  no 
serfjcnts,  f roll's,  toads,  rats  or  bu^^s.  Xo  ^rain  j^i'ows,  nor 
melons,  nor  flax,  nor  onions,  noi*  turnips  noi-  Indian  corn. 
The  women  areas  modest  as  nuns.  They  till  the  soil,  while 
the  men  fish  for  a  livin;^-.  Had  faith,  theft,  fjuarrellin*^  are 
unknown  here;  locks  and  keys  unlK'ard  of.  I'eople  would 
have  a  ver\'  bad  opinion  of  anyone-  who  bolted  his  door." 
A}.4"ain  he    writes,  "I    am    j^oini^'  to  confess  my  i^noi-ance.      1 

can't  succeed   in   making"  an\'  joxxl   ink I  ])c>^  you  to 

have  one  of  your  teachers  make  me  some.  I  will  pay  for  all 
the  vinej.^ar  used.  T  will  exchange  emj)ty  bottles  for  full 
ones,  and  I  will  thank  you  very  much  into  the  bargain. " 
From  this  time  forth  the  nuns  made  all  the  ink  lie  used,  and 
if  the  consumption  exceeded  the  supply  he  was  sure  to  send 
a  note  written  with  bad  ink  and  this  postcript:  "If  vou  don't 
find  my  ink  black  enoui;h  }'ou  ma\'  send  mc  some  other." 
Thou;;h  he  kept  two  secretaries  he  replied  jjromptly  with 
his  own  hand  to  all  who  souj^ht  his  help.  Ih;  was  generous 
to  a  fault,  and  reminds  one  of  the  Apostle  ICliot  in  his  lavish 
alms  to  the  need}',  lie  ne\'er  could  keep  any  money  for 
himself.  What  was  (piaintly  said  of  the  patriarch  White  is 
as  true  of  Plessis.  "lie  absolutely  commanded  his  own  ])as- 
sions,  and  the  ])urses  of  his  pririshioners,  whom  he  could 
wind  tip  to  what  heij^'ht  he  pleased  on  im[)ortant  occasions." 

The  ])est  summary  of  the  life  and  character  of  IMessis,  is 
to  ])c  found  in  his  own  eulogy  on  j;-ood  Bishop  Hriand.  "He 
had  learned  from  Jesus  Christ  to  render  unto  (Jaesar,  the 
thinj^s  that  are  Caesar's,  and  from  Saint  Paul,  submission  to 

the  powers  that  be No  one  was  more  uprij^ht 

more  sinecre, more    fearless  and   self-possessed  amid 


A    SCION    ()!■     Illl'.    (   III    Kill     IN    l)I-,i;i<IIi:i,I). 


?•!( 


•j'J 


milow.'ird  events No  one  knew  hcUci'  llirm  lie, 

liovv  lo  I'eeoncile    wIiaL  lie   owed    to   i\in\  with    wli.'it  lu;   con^ 
sidc'red  due  to  his  fellow-inen." 

Three  times  during'  liis  lC])iseop;ite,  liisliop  I'lt'ssis  visited 
every  parisli  in  Lower  C;ina(hi,  and  so  prodij^icnis  was  his 
memory,  that  he  knewtlie  namesof  every  family  in  eaeh  par- 
ish. If  lu;  heai'tl  ol"  a  blaek  sheep  in  any  floek,  he  hunted 
him  u]),  talked  to  him  like  a  father,  set  him  on  his  feet  and 
made  him  feel  himself  a  man  aj^'ain.  lie  used  to  relate  that 
when  he  went  to  the  Irocjuois  villaj^'e  near  Montreal,'  he 
watelied  from  the  saeristy  the  Indians,  as  they  stole  noise- 
lessly into  the  ehureh  and  sat  down,  the  men  on  one  sifle  and 
the  women  on  the  othei".  Thou^^h  the  women's  faces  were 
hidden  by  their  blankets  he  could  alwa)'s  reefi^^nizt;  his  aunt, 
by  her  tall  li^uix;  and  ICui-opean  ^ait.  This  was  his  j^rand- 
mothei-'s  sister,  Abigail,  daughter  of  Thomas  l''rench  of 
])eei"(iel(l,  taken  ea]jti\'e  at  the  a^e  of  six,  and  since  lost 
sight  (jf,  until  now  found,  amon;^-  the  Saint-Louis  Indi.ans, 
where,  ado[)ting'  the  language  and  habits  of  hei'  eapt<n\s,  she 
lived  and  died  unmarried.  On  his  first  \'isit  to  .Montreal 
after  his  e!eeti<^n,  olfieial  announcement  as  usual  was  made, 
of  the  Bishop's  readiness  to  receive  his  friends,  and  the  jMib- 
lic  generally.  His  father  receiving  no  s])ecial  notice  of  his 
ai^rivrd,  sent  him  the  foll(;wing:  "xMy  son,  I  am  at  home,  and 
.shall  be  glad  to  reeeive  a  visit  from  you,  if  you  wish  to  sec 
me."  Remembering  a  former  passage  at  arms  between  the 
self-res])>.  ting  father,  and  the  obedient  son,  we  cannot  doubt 
that  Plessis  was  soon  welcomed  in  the  bosom  c)f  his  family. 

On  the  2nd  of  Jidy,  i.Skj,  he  sailed  for  l<2urope  on  business 
(jf  importance  U)  the  church.  He  had  scarcely  left  the  har- 
bor when  a  iiull  from  the  Pope  arrived  naming  him  Arch- 
bishop of  (Quebec. 

The   journal    kcjjt  on  this  tmir  is  extant.     He   jots  down 

'Caughnawaga. 


300 


rkUlO    STOKIKS    OF    NKW    KNfJLANI)    CAPTIVES. 


simple  and  loving  thouj^hts  of  the  friends  left  behind.  He 
notices  tlie  birds  that  liovcr  al)(jiit  the  islands  of  the  ^reat 
river,  and  the  jj^ambols  of  the  fish  about  the  ship.  The 
smoke  and  noise  ol  Liverpool  annoy  him,  but  he  is  delighted 
witli  the  public  institutions  of  that  city.  lie  is  especially 
impressed  by  the  tender  care  and  instruction  j^iven  to  the 
blind,  and  his  heart  is  touched  ])y  their  sin^j^'inj^.  He  i)raises 
the  smib'n^  landscape,  and  i^ood  roads  of  JMi^land.  "l*'or 
two  hundred  miles,  between  Liverpool  and  London,  I  did 
not  see  a  sinj^le  rut,"  he  says,  but  he  misses  the  j^rand  forests 
of  his  native  land.  His  description  of  an  liin^lish  inn  is  cap- 
ital. "The  innkeeper  .and  his  wife  meet  you  at  the  door, 
with  as  good  grace  as  any  Lord  and  Lady  would  receive  their 
guests.  That  done,  they  disappear, — leaving  you  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  an  intendant,  who  takes  care  of  you  with  an  air  (^f 
grandeur  and  nobility  that  would  do  credit  to  the  first  gen- 
tleman   of    ICngland Nothing    is   spared.      All    your 

wants  arc  anticipated.  C)nly  at  your  departure,  the  gentle- 
man opens  his  hand,  and  l)esides  the  amount  of  his  bill,  he 
receives  with  gratitude  thesliilling  which  you  give  him."  He 
does  n(^t  relish  I'vUglish  mutton,  but  speaks  of  the  fine  wool 
of  the  sheep.  He  remarks  upon  the  large  size  of  the  horses, 
and  the  dexterity  of  the  coachmen  who  use  long  whips,  but 
never  speak  to  their  horses.  He  speaks  with  gratitude  of  the 
consideration  of  some  English  Protestants,  with  whom  he 
travelled,  who  were  careful  not  to  disturb  his  devotions.  He 
expresses  admiration  and  repect  f(jr  a  good  old  Methodist 
with  whom  he  lodged, — "Mu.st  wy  damn  without  mercy,  those 
who  live  well,  but  do  not  believe?"  he  says;  "No,  charity 
forbids  this."  He  believed  that  sooner  or  later,  in  some  way, 
these  good  I'rotcstant  brethren  would  be  bnnighttoa  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  faith.  His  trust  in  the  love  of  (rod  and  his 
own  great  love  for  his  fellow-men,  would  not  permit  him  to 
think  that  any  could  be  lost. 


A    SCION    OF    rilK   CHURCH    I X    DKKRl' I  I'.I.D.  30I 


Iwc'iywhcrc  in  ICuropc  he  was  treated  witli  distinction, 
Geor^^c  the  I'ourth  in  London,  Lonis  the  ICit^hteenth  in  Paris, 
and  Pope  IMns  the  .Seventh  in  Rome,  ^ave  him  (latterin}^ 
audience  Ilavinj^  accomplislied  his  mission  he  returned  to 
Canada,  after  a  year's  a1)sence.  Ivandinj^  at  Montreal,  liis 
passa^-e  down  the  river  was  a  triumplial  procession.  After 
an  ovation  at  Three  Rivers,  a  frenzy  of  joy  greeted  his  ar- 
rival at  Queljec.  The  wliole  population  turned  out  to  meet 
him.  He  landed  amid  the  firini^  of  cannon,  the  clanj^or  of 
bells,  the  music  of  the  JMij^lish  band,  and  the  shouts  of  the 
people.  The  multitude  followed  him  to  the  cathedral,  and 
filled  the  market  place  outside,  while  a  V'c  Dcum  was  sun<^. 
A  flock  of  dove-like  nuns  fluttered  on  the  mansard  of  the 
Ursuline  convent,  watching  eaj^erly  from  afar  the  move- 
ments of  the  crowd,  while  others  in  their  j^lad  impulse,  seiz- 
ing the  bell  rope  oi  the  chapel,  rang  (nit  a  welcome  to  the 
Holy  Father. 

He  had  long  been  a  sufferer  from  rheumatism.  On  the 
4th  of  December,  1.S25,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  his  ])usy  and 
useful  life  ended  suddenly  at  the  hospital  of  the  Hotel-Dieu. 
On  the  7th  his  body  clad  in  his  sacerdotal  robes,  a  mitre  on 
his  head,  a  crucifix  in  his  hand,  was  borne  in  an  open  coffin 
through  the  streets  and  followed  to  the  Cathedral  by  an  im- 
mense concourse  of  citizens, — the  Covernor-Ceneral  and  his 
Council,  the  Legislative  Council,  judges  of  the  King's  liench 
and  troops  of  the  garrison.  All  the  bells  of  the  city  were 
tolled,  the  shops  shut  and  minute  guns  (ired.  A  mar])le  in- 
scribed  with  an  elaborate  epitaph  111  Latin,  marks  his  tomb, 
at  the  left  of  the  altar,  in  the  choir  of  the  Basilica  at  Ouebec, 
His  heart  in  a  crystal  vase  in  a  leaden  box,  was  carried  in 
procession  to  the  church  at  Saint-Roch.  The  vault  where  it 
rests  is  covered  by  a  mural  tablet  inscribed  in  P'rench. 

Lately  I  was  present  at  one  of  the  most  imposing  cere- 
monials of  the  Romish  church,  in  the   Basilica  where  Plessis 


I  ■iiiiiii  umiiiii    mill—— It,'— —iw^,  —  ,-,     -^■>-.,., 


302  TRUE   STORIKS   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

wa.i  ordained,  consecrated;  and  so  long  officiated  at  similar 
solemnities.  It  was  the  day,  when  from  two  hundred  thou- 
sand altars  all  over  the  world,  prayers  arose  for  all  the  souls 
in  Purt^atory.  A  lofty  catafalque,  covered  with  a  pall,  sym- 
bolic of  death,  rose  at  the  very  ea'irance.  Tall  candles  in 
silver  candlesticks  stood  at  its  four  corners  and  hundreds  of 
tapers,  row  upon  row  ascendin^j,  llared  and  smoked  about  it. 
From  ceilinj^  to  iloor,  the  vast  cathedral  was  draped  in  l)lack 
and  white.  Its  usual  splendor  was  veiled  by  emblems  of 
woe.  Pictures  and  images,  crystal  chandeliers  and  silver 
lamps,  were  shrouded  in  black.  Broad  bands  of  black  con- 
cealed the  railing  of  the  galleries,  and  thick  folds  of  the  same 
were  wound  about  the  pillars.  Votive  lamps  burned  be- 
fore all  the  shrines.  Colored  lights  illumined  the  recesses 
of  the  church.  Thousands  of  people  with  chaplets,  knelt  in 
prayer  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  might  be  released  from  the 
torture  of  Purgatory.  From  the  organ  loft  came  the  wail  of 
a  solemn  requiem.  Odor  of  incense  was  wafted  from  the  far 
away  chancel,  which  was  crowded  with  priests  and  boys.  In 
fancy  I  saw  the  great  Archbishop  there,  where  he  loved  best 
to  be,  in  his  pontificals,  and  seated  in  his  chair  of  state,  at- 
tended by  his  clergy  in  vestments  of  black  velvet  embroid- 
ered with  silver. 

Then  I  thought  of  Thomas  French  in  his  leather  apron, 
shaping  ploughshares  all  the  day  long ;  in  the  evening, 
painfully  recording  in  the  town  book  the  events  of  the  every 
dav  life  of  the  little  plantation  of  which  he  was  a  leading 
member ;  on  Sunday,  in  his  homespun  suit,  sitting  here  in 
the  deacons'  seat  below  the  pulpit,  half-hidden  from  the  con- 
gregation by  the  plain  board  hanging  from  the  rail  in  front, 
and  serving  for  a  communion  table  when  needed.  Children 
and  grandchildren  watched  by  his  deathbed,  and  finally, 
kindly  hands  of  mourning  neighbors  bore  him  on  a  bier  to 
his  rest  in  the  old  burial  ground.     There  the  sun  shines  all 


A   SCION   OF'  THE   CHURCH    IN   DEERKIELD.  303 


day  upon  his  grave,  which  is  marked  by  an  old  red  sandstone 
bearing  the  simple  words, 

"Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord." 

Would  it  have  shocked  the  old  man  more  I  wonder,  to 
have  known  that  one  of  his  blood  should  become  the  most  il- 
lustrious defender  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  in  Canad.i,  - 
or  that  a  woman  of  the  same  stock  should  stand  in  this  place 
on  this  anniversary,  to  ask  you  to  honor  this  veritable  scion 
of  the  church  in  Deerfield  ? 

Who  shall  dare  afiirm  or  deny  that  to  the  drop  of  New 
England  blood  in  his  veins,  Joseph-Octave  Plessis,  owes  the 
grandest  traits  of  his  character  ? 

After  all, — what  matters  it?  Neither  New  l^ngland  nor 
New  France, — Puritan  nor  Catholic,  holds  a  monopoly  of 
virtue. 

Sects  perish.     Nationalities  l)lend.     Character  endures. 


-, -P^^yp-n^j^.^  WB-ji^ 


am" 


HERTEL    DE    ROUVTLLE. 


COMMANDER    OK   THE    FRENCH     AND     INDIANS    IN    MANY    EXl'E- 
DiriONS   AOAINST   NEW    ENGLAND. 

"It  is  not  far  from   New  England  to  old   France."     One 
rushes  by  train  at  night  across  the  fertile  meadows  of  the 
Connecticut  and  Passumpsic  rivers  to  wake  in  a  wilderness 
of  pines  and  hemlocks,  alternating  with  forests  of  the  more 
delicate  larch.    So,  on  to  the  valley  of  the  Chaudiere.    Thence 
winding  through  picturesque  hamlets  bearing  the  names  of 
the  Virgin,  and  all  the  saints  in  the  calendar, -each  a  daz- 
zling row  of  stone  cottages,  built  close  by  the  river,  with  low 
walls  and  high  pitched  roofs,  whose  curved  and  broadly  ov- 
erhanging eaves  are  supported  by  brackets.     The  lofty  gable 
ends  are  shingled  and  painted  yellow,  pink  or  dark  red,  in 
gay  contrast  to  the  white  plastered  walls.     The  massive  cob- 
blestone chimneys  are  built  up  from   the   ground   outside, 
rudely  daubed  with  clay,  and  encased  in  wood  towards  the 
top  to  protect  them  from  wind  and  rain.     Each  cottage  has 
its  outdoor  oven,  its  long,  low  barn  with  numerous  bnght 
red  doors,  always  open,  and  barred  by  wicket  gates      Behind 
the  buildings  the  farm  slopes  gently  upward  to  a  high  hori- 


IlKRTEI.   1)E    UOUVILLE.  305 


zon  line,  a  mile  back  from  the  river.  While  you  are  lookinj^ 
for  Evangeline  and  v/ondering  whether  this  is  Acadia  or 
Normandy,  you  lind  yourself  towards  sunset  in  the  midst  of 
a  French-speaking  crowd  in  the  market-place  of  the  Lower 
Town  of  (Juebec, — on  the  very  spcjt  where  in  1608  Champlain 
and  his  companions  built  their  ''habitat ion'  and  spent  tlieir 
first  winter  in  Canada. 

Above  you,  t<j  the  height  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
towers  the  magnificent  cliff,  so  justly  termed  the  (ribraltar 
of  America.  Clambering  into  a  ca/i-c/u',  you  crawl  to  the  top 
by  the  zigzag  road  now  known  as  Mountain  vStreet.  But  you 
go  not  alone, — for  this  is  h(jly  ground,  and  your  heart  beats 
conscious  of  a  procession  from  the  past  that  silently  goes 
with  you  up  the  narrow  pathway. 

Here  is  Jacques  Cartier,  hardy  Breton  mariner,  first  of 
white  men  who  trod  this  winding  way;  Champlain,  skilful 
seaman,  brave  soldier,  restless,  untiring  adventurer, — cum- 
bered with  much  care  for  the  scnil  of  the  red  man ;  and  his 
gentle  and  beautiful  young  Huguenot  wife,  so  far  exceeding 
his  efforts  for  her  conversion  that  she  learned  to  look  even 
upon  her  love  for  him  as  disloyalty  to  God.  Here  are  men- 
dicant friars  in  gray  cloth  robes,  girt  up  with  knotted  cord, 
and  naked  feet  shod  in  wooden  sandals ;  black-gowned  Jes- 
uits for  whom  Indian  tortures  have  no  terrors,  their  emaciat- 
ed faces  looking  more  ghastly  beneath  their  looped-up  hats ; 
and  dark-eyed  nuns,  whose  woe-begone  faces,  pale  and  weary 
with  weeping  and  sea-sickness,  are  yet  radiant  with  unabated 
zeal  for  their  mission.  Here,  too,  are  splendid  regiments  of 
soldiers,  whose  valor  has  been  proved  on  many  an  old  world 
battle  field  ;  and  a  long  line  of  viceroys,  governors  and  in- 
tendants,  surrounded  by  liveried  guards  and  followed  by  a 
throng  of  young  nobles  from  the  most  corrupt  of  European 
courts  gorgeous  in  lace  and  ribbons  and  "majestic  m  leonine 
wigs." 


-:m TT^T" 


•"wr- 


•1'  •    Wit 


306 


TKUK   STORIKS   OF    NEW    ENGLAND    CAl'TIVES. 


(raiiiinjj^  the  suininit  of  Ihc  rock  you  look  otf  ui)oii  a  land- 
scape of  incomparable  l)eauty.  Helow,  the  noble  river  with 
white-winded  vessels  and  driftinjjf  smoke  of  tnany  steamers. 
Midway  between  its  banks  lies  the  beauteous  island  of  Or- 
leans like  an  emerald  set  in  silver.  The  lon^,  white  co/r  of 
Beauport,  with  its  jj^litteriniif  twin  spires,  stretches  away  to- 
ward the  oicaminij^  cataract  of  Montmorcnci.  Across  the 
river,  russet  fields  of  wavini»"  ^rain  slope  in  billowy  uplands 
to  the  blue  hori/.(jn.  Far  away  are  the  rounded  summits  of 
the  orand  old  Laureutian  mountains,  the  land  first  lifted 
aljove  the  waste  of  waters,  nucleus  of  a  world  as  yet  unborn. 
Imperial  in  the  splendor  of  their  autumnal  robes,  wrapped 
about  in  the  purple  haze  of  the  September  afte/noon,  tran- 
quil and  serene  as  befits  their  di<^nity,  solemn  and  impressive 
in  their  sublimity,  they  stand  there  as  they  have  stood  since 
time  bejifan. 

llaltin<^  on  the  rampart  of  this  walled  town  that  seems 
like  a  dream  of  the  middle  ages,  you  hear  the  muffled  drums 
beating'  the  funeral  march  of  a  soldier.  The  ./ //iz-^/z^s- peals 
from  the  cathedral  spire.  You  listen  to  the  low,  sweet 
chanting'  of  cloistered  nuns  at  tlieir  vespers.  Surelv  this  is 
a  bit  of  old  France. 

But  again  it  is  not  far  to  New  England  from  Old  France, 
for,  to  the  thoughtful  student  of  our  colonial  history  who 
stands  for  the  first  time  beneath  the  Lombardy  poplars  on 
the  esplanade  at  Quebec,  especially  to  one  reared  imder  the 
elms  of  Massachusetts,  no  place  is  so  near  to  the  impregna- 
ble fortress  of  the  St.  Lawrence  as  the  frontier  town  of  Deer- 
field  on  the  Connecticut.  Instinctively  he  peoples  tlie  streets 
of  the  old  French  city  with  the  shadowy  forms  of  thc^se,  who, 
driven  from  their  burning  homes  on  the  night  of  th(j  29th 
of  February,  1703-4,  dragged  out  a  miserable  captivity  on 
this  very  spot.  Yonder,  tended  by  Hospital  nuns,  Zebediah 
Williams,  that  pious,  hopeful  youth,  breathed  his  last.     Not 


KM 


IIKKTi:!.    DK    kOlVII.I.K.  307 

far  away  arc  the  (lila])idatc(l  walls  of  the  IntendaiU's  palace, 
over  whose  threshold  inan\'  a  Xcw  lOnj^land  captive  has 
passed.  Between  tliis  and  the  (lo\'ernor's  coui-.cil  (.hamhcr 
Ensij^n  John  Sheldon  must  have  walked  daily  while  besiey;-- 
ing'  these  officers  with  petitions  for  the  release  of  llu>  Deer- 
field  captives. 

Here,  in  this  now  deserted  market-place  )'oun54-  Jonathan 
Hoit  sat  with  the  vcyfctables  wliich  he  was  sent  to  sell  in 
the  city,  when  Major  Dudley  saw  him  and  bouj^ht  him  of 
his  Indian  master  with  twenty  brij^ht,  silver  dollars,  i'aein}^" 
this  square  were  the  Jesuit  building^s  where  the  Deerfield 
pastor  so  often  dined  and  arj^'ued  with  the  l'\ather  ,Su[)erior; 
and  within  sij^ht,  stood  the  Ursuline  convent  where  the  little 
New  England  girls  were  bribed  and  beaten  by  those  as  pi- 
ously bent  on  the  .salvation  of  their  souls  as  ever  was  good 
Parson  Williams  himself. 

With  all  these  names,  that  of  Hertel  de  Rouville  must  be 
forever  a.ssoeiated.  We  have  hitherto  thought  of  him  but  as 
a  Popish  bigot,  a  leader  of  murdering  savages.  It  seems  to 
me  that  the  time  has  come  when  we  can  afford  to  honor  him 
and  his  ancestry  as  we  do  our  own  for  their  patriotic  and 
brave  defence  of  their  country  and  their  faith. 

In  that  part  of  Normandy,  known  as  the  Pays  de  Caux  in 
the  picturesque  town  of  Fecamps  by  the  sea,  lived  Nicholas 
Hertel  and  his  wife  Jeanne.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury we  find  the  name  of  their  son,  Jacques  Hertel  in  Can- 
ada, where  the  rank  of  a  lieutenant  gave  him  the  cittrcc  to 
the  best  society.  Here  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  Indian  language  and  became  known  as  one  of  the  most 
skilful  interpreters.  The  interpreter  was  then  a  man  of  high 
consideration  and  authority  in  intercolonial  affairs.  His 
position  as  mediator  between  the  savage  and  the  white  man 
required  the  possession  of  unusual  courage  and  intelligence. 
Mr.  Parkman  mentions  Hertel  as  one  of  the  four  most  fa- 


^w  t«Miupi  iiiwji  mm — «-»-r- 


30S 


■ri;k  sroRiiis  ())••  nicw  knuu.and  cai'Tivks. 


nious  interpreters  of  New  l'r;inee  in  the  deeade  following 
1636,  antl  s.'iys  of  the  elass,  "I'roni  iKitred  of  restraint  and 
lovc!  of  a  wild  and  adventui'oiis  independenee  they  eneonn- 
tered  priwatioii  and  dangers  seaicely  less  than  those  to  whieli 
the  [esnit  exposed  himself  from  motives  widely  different, — 
he  fi"om  re!i;;ious  zeal,  charity  and  the  hope  of  Paradise  ; 
they,  simply  beeause  they  liked  it.  Soni' ;  of  the  best  fami- 
lies of  (Canada  elaim  deseent  from  thi.s  vi^^orons  and  hardy 
stoek." 

v)nthe  2  Y^  of  An^^iist,  ii>.}i,  |aei|nes  Ilertel  married  at 
Three  Rivei's,  the  dati^i^liter  of  P'ranrois  iMar;'-U('')Me,  anotlier 
of  the  (piartette  of  reno\vned  interpreters.  'Three  Rivers 
was  then  a  fur-trading-  handet  suriounded  by  a  scuiare  ])ali- 
sade.  Hetween  it  and  Montrt'al,  on  ijoth  shores  of  the  St. 
Lawrenee  were  elearinj^'s,  nuirkin;^-  the  sites  of  future  seij^'n- 
iories.  Amon;^'  the  early  settlers  of  Three  Rivers,  are  names 
eonneeted  with  some  of  the  most  romantie  e])isodes  in  the 
history  of  Canada. 

One  of  the  nei_t4-h1)ors  of  Jae(|ues  Ilertel  and  I''ran(;ois  Mar- 
j^iKMie  was  ("hristo])lu;  ('r(''vier,  whose  eldest  dauj^'hter  later 
m.irried  I'ierre  lioiuhei-,  (Governor  of  Thi'ee  Rivers.  Their 
daughter,  vsdien  but  twelve  and  a  half  years  of  aji^^e  niarriet^ 
Rene  (i.aultier  de  la  Varennc^s,  a  lieutenant  of  the  Carij^nan 
regiment,  and  l)eeamL  the  mother  of  La  V^erendrye,  the  dis- 
eoverer  of  the  Roeky  iMountains. 

Jac(jues  Ilertel,  at  his  death,  left  two  dau.i^'hters  and  a  son. 
The  son,  iM'anrois  Ilertel,  was  born  ai  Three  Rivers  about 
1643,  and  early  distinguished  himself  as  a  soldier.  Charle- 
voi.x  ealls  him  "one  of  the  most  valiant  warrioi's  of  his  time." 
A  latei-  I'^reneli  writer  sa}'s,  "liy  his  boldness  and  sueeess  he 
deserves  to  be  ealled  the  most  intrepid  eiianipion  of  New 
J'' ranee  .^^ainst  its  eternal  enemies,  the  Iroquois  and  the  eol- 
oiusts  of  New  ICn^'land." 

One  summer  afternoon  in  the  year  1661,  Franyois  Ilertel, 


^!R5HSW^P^5^i^^^WBIp^^^ 


HERTEL   J)E    RCJUVILKE.  309 


then  a  youth  of  ei^rhtcen,  v^-is  made  prisoner  l)y  the  Mo- 
hawks, and  with  two  of  his  comrades  carried  to  one  of  their 
towns,  where  they  were  cruelly  tortured.  With  his  poor, 
mutilated  hand  the  brave  l^oy  wrote  (mi  birch  bark  and  car- 
trid^re  wrappers  a  letter  to  his  mother  and  two  to  Father  Le 
Moyne,  a  Jesuit  priest,  who  had  been  sent  a  little  before  to 
C)nondajr;i  on  a  political  mission  during  a  truce  with  the  Iro- 
quois.' In  them  not  one  word  of  complaint  of  his  own  suf- 
ferings escapes  the  heroic  youth,  but  elsewhere  he  thus 
speaks  of  his  little  fourteen  years  old  friend,  Antoine  Crevier, 
who  had  been  captured  with  him  :  "Poor  little  fellow,  I  pitied 
him  so  !  These  savages  made  a  slave  of  him,  and  then  while 
hunting  they  stuck  their  knives  into  him  and  killed  him." 

Ilertel's  other  comrade  in  misfortune  wrote  home  to  Three 
Rivers  as  follov.s :  "There  are  three  of  us  Frenchmen  here 
who  have  been  tortured  together,  and  while  they  were  tor- 
menting one  the  other  two  were  permitted  to  pray  to  (k)d 
for  him,  which  we  did  continually;  and  they  let  the  one 
they  were  tormenting  chant  the   Litanies  of  the  Virgin  or 
the  Ave  Maria,  which  he  did  while  the  others  rjrayed.     The 
savages  mocked  us  and  made  a  great  hue  ai^l  cry  when  they 
heard  us  singing,  but  that  did  not  keep  us  from  doing  it. 
They  made  us  dance  around  a  great  fire  to  make  us  fall  into 
It.     There  were  more  than  forty  of  them  round  the  fire,  and 
they  kicked  us  from  one  to  another  like  tennis  balls,  and  af- 
ter they  had  burned  us  well  they  put  us  out  in  the  rain  and 
cold.     I  never  felt  such  dreadful  pain,  but  they  only  laughed 
at  us.     We  prayed  with  all   our  might,  and  if  you  ask  me 
whether  I  did  not  hate  the  Iroquois  who  were  hurting  us  so 

and  curse  them,  I  tell  you,  no,  that  I  prayed  for  them [ 

and  I  must  tell  you  about  Pierre  Rencontre  whom  you  knew 
well.  He  died  like  a  saint.  I  saw  them  torture  him  He 
never  said  a  word  but  "My  God  have  pity  on  me." 

'Mr.  Parkman  gives  us  the«c  ie'.ters  on  p.  67  of  the  Old  R6gi 


rime. 


"aBnt*att»*»»w 


^,„  Tk(JK    SroklKS    OK    NKW     KNCil.AND    CM'TIVKS. 

The  youthful  cnptivc  (lescri])cs  more  sulTcriuj^s  endured 
at  the  li.'inrls  of  the  merciless  Mohawks,  an<l  at  the  ch)se  of 
his  letter,  as  if  overwhelmed  with  the  horror  of  it  all,  he 
says  "1  can't  help  weepiu--  in  sayin^^  <^<u,^]])yc"  What  a 
picture  this  is  of  th('  constancy  and  fortitude  ol  these  lads. 
The  la])se  of  two  centuries  cannot  deaden  our  sympathy  with 
those  distressed  mothers  at  Three  Rivers  as  they  read  these 
a<^oni/.int^-  letters  from  their  beloved  boys. 

"^Thus  early  did  i'ranrois  llcrtel  be.-(in  to  deserve  the  title 
of  "Ar  /A'mv,"  by  which  he  is  later  known  in  the  annals  of 

Xew  JM-anee.  .    . 

On  Sept    2nd,  1664,  three  years  after  his  captivity  amon^^ 
the  Mohawks,   Francois   Ilertel   married  at  Montreal,   Mdlle. 
Mannierite  Thauvenet.     She  had  come  to  Canada  with  Mad- 
ame'^'de  la  IV'ltrie,   intendiu-  to  consecrate  herself  to  the  ed- 
ttcation   of    Indian    '^\vU,   but    became    betrothed   to    M._  do 
Chambly,  a  captain  in  the  Cari^nan  re^nnient,  whose  seiKHi- 
iory  she  inherited   at  his  death,  beccmiin-   later  the  wile  ot 
Francois  Ilertel  and  the  mother  of  his  nine  sons.     Mr.  F>en- 
iamin  Suite,  an   eminent  historian  of  Cana.la,  K'ves  a  new 
versicm  of  this   storv   in    his   history   of  Saintd-'rancs.     lie 
says  that  Marie  Thauvenefs  sister  married  Captain  de  Cham- 
bly and  died  without  childrci  ;  that  De  Chambly  was  killed 
in  the  wars  with    Italy  and  that  his  Canadian   Hef  passed  to 
his  wife's  sister's  husband,   l'-ran<;ois  Ilertel,  who  thereupon 


av  me<l  the  title  of  Seigneur  de  Chambly.'  he  this  as  it 
nKty  iM-ancois  Ilertci's  iVle  was  Ilertel  de  la  iM-csuicre. 
Kron.  his  inheritance  of  tne  sei-niory  of  Chambly  throu^di 
his  wife  or  her  si.tcr,  he  became  Sieur  de  Chambly.  I  .nd 
..tetter  from  iM-ancois  I  lertel,  dated  at  Three  Kivers,  July 
2S,  ,r/Atothe  sui-eon  at  Oran-c,  |  Albany  1  thankiUK^  him 

'.,.-,,„.,,islI,rid'smlcwas  ll-rl.l  <U:  U  Vr(^s,ubrc.  Uc  ^...  u|.  U.is  to 
take  !l!a,  'f  •'S.:,Kn,.ur  ,1.  Ch.ml.ly/'an.i  is  then.fu-r  Unn.u  as  llcrtel  -Ic 
Chambly. 


wm 


IIKKiKI,    l)K    KOiJVIM.K. 


311 


for  his  ^o()(l  trcatincnl  while  a  crijitive,  and  rc^^rcttin;^-  that 
another  iMohawk  invasion  lias  prevented  his  Ijein^  sent  by 
the  ;4-overnf)r  on  an  embassy  to  All)any.  He  adfls:  "As  for 
news  rejrardin;^  myself  I  will  infoi'm  you  that  I've  ;^ot  mar- 
ried sinee  I  was  with  you,  and  have  a  bij^  boy  who  will  soon 
be  able  to  j^-oand  see  you  ;  only  let  him  be  fourteen  or  lift(;en 
years  oMer  than  he  is  now;  that  will  make  him  about  six- 
een. 

On  the  2,Sth  of  Man.-h,  1690,  we  (ind  JM-anrois  Ilertel  lead- 
inj^  the  attack  at  Salmon  I'\'ills'  and  performinu^  prodij^ies 
of  v.alor  at  Wooster  River,  lie  had  with  him  his  three 
eldest  sons,  of  whom  our  Ilertel  de  Rouville  was  the  third. 
lie  was  also  aecompanied  by  his  n(;phew,  Louis  (brevier,  ('the 
son  of  his  sister  Marguerite,)  and  by  Nieolas  (iatineau,  son 
of  Marie  Crevier.  These  were  all  ;^allant  and  spirited  youn^ 
officers. 

Retreating'-  to  the  Kennebec,  he  left  his  eldest  son,  Ilertel 
de  la  h'rcvsnicre,  who  had  becMi  severely  wounded  in  the  ae- 
tion,  amon;^-  the  Abenakis,  and  joining-  a  war  ])arty  under 
Rortneuf,  whose  soldiers  clamored  to  be  led  by  Ilertel,  he 
shared  in  the  trium])h  at  I'^ort  Loyal  on  L'asco  liay. 

We  }^et  an  interesting^-  ^lim])se  of  I  lertel's  honie  life  at  this 
period.  One  little  flauj^'-hter  hafl  been  born  to  hnn  to  whose 
education  the  j)ious  mother  devoted  herself,  althou.i(h,  says 
the  L^rsuline  Superior  who  tells  the  trde,  "She  did  not  nejrleet 
her  nine  sons,  as  is  pi-oved  by  the  fact  that  thouj^^h  they  were 
somewhat  ;^ay  and  tremendously  brave,  they  made  it  a  prin- 
ei])le  to  be  as  faithful  to  (lod  as  to  their  kinjr."  While  the 
husband  was  fij^htinjr  f(ji-  the  klw^  at  Sabnon  I'\alls,  his  wife 
was  i)resentin}4-  their  little  ten  years  old  j^irl  for  her  first 
ef)mn-iunion.  This  was  the  first  stcj)  in  a  remarkable  relij^^. 
ions  career  in  which  the  dau^^hter  of  "'fhe  Hero"  "dis))layed 

'AccorciiiiK  to  S..111C   wriicrs  Uiis    ailack  uti  SulitKJii  Falls  was  led  by  [leitel 
(]<•  Roiivillr,  soil  of  IraiK.ois  ilcrlfl. 


312  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

the  same  heroism  which  her  father  had  shown  on  the  field 
of  battle." 

From  the  time  of  her  first  communion,  Marie  Fran(;oise 
Hertel's  life  was  regulated  by  herself  with  the  sole  view  to 
her  eternal  salvation.  She  showed  thereafter  no  looseness, 
idleness  nor  inconstancy  in  her  tasks  at  the  pension.  Delight- 
ed with  her  progress,  her  parents  took  her  home  intending 
to  arrange  for  her  a  marriage  suitable  to  their  position,  but 
her  heart  was  fixed  on  becoming  a  nun.  Though  this  was  a 
great  disappointment  to  her  father,  who  had  counted  upon 
her  companionship  in  his  declining  years,  he  loved  her  so 
tenderly  that  he  would  no';  sadden  her  by  remonstrating 
against  her  chosen  vocation,  and  rarely  spoke  to  her  on  the 
subject.  Her  brother,  De  Rouville,  however,  was  not  so 
considerate.  He  importuned  her  incessantly  to  marry  one 
of  his  companions  in  arms  who  was  greatly  admired  by  all. 
"What  nonsense  in  you,  Fanchette,"  he  would  say,  **at  your 
age  to  think  of  shutting  yourself  up  in  a  convent.  Leave 
your  place  among  the  Ursuline  sisters  to  some  old  maid 
whom  nobody  wants,  and  who  is  good  for  nothing  but  to  say 
her  prayers.  Why  need  you  put  yourself  behind  a  grating 
to  serve  God?  Look  at  our  mother.  Lsn't  she  a  good,  true 
Christian  ?" 

All  this  did  not  prevent  the  young  rcligicuse  from  fulfilling 
her  intention.  In  September,  i/cxd,  she  became  a  novice  un- 
der the  name  of  Soeur  Marie  Franyoise  de  Saint-Exupore, 
taking  the  white  veil,  in  the  convent  then  newly  founded  in 
her  native  town. 

When  in  171 3  it  became  necessary  to  elect  a  Mother  Su- 
perior for  the  convent  at  Three  Rivers,  the  minds  of  all  his 
friends  and  neighbors  naturally  turned  to  the  daughter  of 
"The  Hero."  The  matter  being  decided  oth  'rwise  by  the 
Ursulines  at  Quebec,  a  crowd  of  his  tenants,  whw  oelieved  that 
everything  belonging  to  the  name  of  Hertel  must  of  neces- 


Tssssmmmfm 


HERTEL   DE   ROUVILLE.  313 

sity  hold  the  highest  position,  assembled  at  the  convent  doors 
showering  invectives  upon  the  authorities  at  Quebec.  The 
uproar  reached  such  a  height  that  poor  little  Sister  St.  Exu- 
pere  was  driven  by  her  humility  to  leave  her  native  town 
and  seek  entrance  to  the  Ursuline  convent  at  Quebec,  where 
she  toe  ..  at  once  the  black  veil.  There  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1 770,  she  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety,  after  a  retirement 
from  the  world  of  seventy-one  years,  which  she  spent  in  ac- 
tive service  for  the  church,  showing  an  especial  aptitude  for 
teaching  young  girl  j. 

"About  this  timo,"  says  Mr.  Parkman,  "Canada  became  in- 
fatuated  with    roblcsse.  .....  Merchant    and   seignior  vied 

with  each  other  for  the  quality  oi  gentilJiouimc 'Every- 
body here,'  writes  the  Intendant  Meules,  'calls  himself  es- 
quire and  ends  with  thinking  himself  a  gentleman.'  "  The 
exploits  of  Frangois  Hertel  entitled  him  to  letters  of  nobility 
from  his  king.  These,  according  to  Canadian  Archives, 
though  promised  in  1690,  were  not  granted  till  a  quarter 
of  a  century  later. 

In  17 1 2,  probably  despairing  of  a  proper  recognition  of  his 
services,  and  ambitious  for  his  sons,  Francois  Hertel,  wrote 
a  memorial  recapitulating  their  military  exploits.  In  this 
he  sets  forth  in  detail  the  expedition  of  his  third  son,  Hertel 
de  Rouville,  to  Deerfield.' 

The  following  extracts  are  literally  translated  : 

"The  Sieur  Hertel  is  76  years  old.*  .....  He  has  ten  sons  all  in 
the  troops The   Sieur  Hertel  plre   began  to  bear  arms  in 

'Canadian  Ant.  and  Num.  Journal,  July,  1889.  Interesting  as  a  cotempo- 
rary  statement  of  important  events  by  a  conspicuous  actor  therein.  It  is  a  draft 
by  "The  Hero"  of  a  record  of  his  services,  to  be  sent  to  the  king,  with  correc- 
tions partly  by  himself  and  partly  by  some  other  hand.  Its  antiquity  is  un- 
questionable. Invaluable  as  authority  on  the  details  of  the  expeditions  against 
New  England  in  1690  and  1703-4. 

'Changed  to  "70,"  this  fixes  the  date  if  thi.->  document  as  1712.  as  Hertel 
was  born  in  1642. 


314 


TRUE   STORIKS   OF   NEW   ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 


X657,  in  the  beginning  of  the  war  against  the  Iroquois  He  was 
wounded  and  made  prisoner  by  these  Savages  in  1659,  and  was  about 
two  years  a  slave  among  them.     He  is  maimed  in  one  hand  by  the 

bad  treatment  of  these  barbarians 

In  all  the  wars    there    has   been  no  party  or  expedition  in  which 
the  father  or  some  of  his  children  have  not  been.     M.  the  governor 
eeneral         .  .  in  i703>  honored  the  Sleur  de  rouviUe'^  with  the  com- 
mand  of  a  party  of  .00  men  among  the  number  of  who.n  were  three 
of  his  brothers.     He  took  by  storm  at  daybreak  the  fort'  guerfil 
where   there  were  a  hundred   and  twenty-seven   armed    men      He 
killed  in  this  assaulu  and  in  a  combat  which  he  sustained  while   re- 
treating with  his  rear-guard  of  thirty  men.  against  more  than  a  hun- 
dred, one  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  took  one  hundred  and  seventy 
prisoners,  his  lieutenant  was  killed   and   eleven   others  of    his  men. 
He    was    wounded   and  twenty-two  others,    among  which  number 
were  three  officers  and  one  of  his  brothers  who  was  serving  as  ad- 
jutant." 

The  long-deferred  patent  of  nobility  was  granted  to  Fran- 
9ois  Hertel  in  April,  17 16,  lie  being  then  seventy-four  years 
old.     It  appears  in  Canadian  Archives  as  follows  : 

[Translation.] 

"Services  which  the  Seignieur  Hertel  Lieutenant  of  our  troops  in 
Canada  has  rendered  to  the  late  King, in  the  different  expe- 
ditions in  which  he  has  been  against  the  savages,  have  led  us  to 
give  him  proof  of  our  satisfaction,  which  may  descend  to  his  poster- 
ity We  resolve  upon  this  the  more  willingly,  as  the  valor  of  the 
father  is  hereditary  in  his  children,  two  of  whom  have  been  killed 
in  the  service,  and  the  seven  others  who  still  serve  in  our  troops  m 
Canada  and  Isle  Royale,  have  given  on  all  occasions  proofs  of  their 
good  conduct  and  bravery.     And  since  the  father  and  his  children 

'Changed  to  "1704."  "'"'«  ^•^'''^  '°"-" 

giiQf  "  *"Deerfield." 


PSSre^SP--.  .  .,  ,>  ..«^HWw.l^-». ....  49i. 


HERTKI.   1)E    ROUVriJ.K.  315 


Still  continue  to  serve  us,  with  tlie  same  zeal  and  the  same  affection, 
we  have  been  pleased  to  grant  to  the  head  of  this  family  our  letters 
of  nobility 

We  find  Francois  Hertel  until  his  death  eonstantly  cm- 
ployed  in  the  service  of  his  iyovernment :  a  man  useful  in 
its  councils  and  idolized  by  the  whole  colony.  Charlevoix, 
who  saw  him  at  the  age  of  eighty  full  of  health  and  strength 
says  that  "All  the  colony  bore  witness  to  his  virtue  and  his 
merits." 

The  head  of  the  younger  branch  of  Fran(;ois  llertel's  fam- 
ily was  Jean  Baptiste  Hertel  de  Rouville,  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  history  of  New  England. 

He  was  the  third  "big  boy"  that  rejoiced  the  heart  of  his 
youthful  father  and  was  probably  born  about  1668.  His  fa- 
ther procured  for  him  a  grant  of  land  on  the  river  Chambly 
near  his  own  seigniory,  -  hich,  it  will  be  remembered,  came 
into  his  possession  through  a  romantic  episode  in  the  life  of 
his  wife.  Marguerite  de  Thauvenet.  Embracing,  as  did  all 
his  brothers,  a  soldier's  career,  "he  became,"  says  the  Cana- 
dian Chronicler,  "the  rival  of  all  those  intrepid  warriors 
who  made  the  English  colonies  repent  of  their  unjtist  at- 
tacks." He  held  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  and  was  accompan- 
ied in  his  expedition  against  Deerfield  by  three  of  his  broth- 
ers. For  his  exploits  on  that  occasion  he  was  recommended 
for  promotion  by  De  Vaudreuil  in  a  letter  to  the  ^Minister  as 
follows : 

"Quebec,  i6th  9ber  1704. 

I  had  the  honor  to  write  to  you,  INIy  Lord, and  to 

inform  you  of  the  success  of  a  party  1  sent  this  winter  on  the  ice  as 
far  as  the  Boston  government'  at  the  request  of  the  Abenakis  In- 
dians whom  the  English  attacked  since  Sieur  de  Beaubassin's  return 
last  autumn,  and  at  the  same  time  took  the  liberty  to  speak  to  you 
of  Sieur  de  Rouville  who  commanded  on  that  occasion  :  he  desires, 

'Deerfield. 


3l6  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 

My  Lord,  that  you  would  have  the  goodness  to  think  of  his  pro- 
motion, having  been  invariably,  in  all  the  expeditions  that  present- 
ed themselves,  and  being  still  actually  with  the  Abenakis 

Sieur  de  Rouville's  party,  My  Lord,  has  accomplished  everything 
expected  of  it,  for  independent  of  the  capture  of  a  fort,'  it  showed 
the  Abenakis  that  they  could  truly  rely  on  our  promises,  and  this  is 
what  they  told  me  at  Montreal  on  the  13th  of  June  when  they  came 
to  thank  me.'"'^ 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  for  managing  the  Indian  af- 
fairs at  Albany  the  21  of  June,  1709.  Intelligence  given  by  an  In- 
dian called  Ticonnondadiha,  deserted  from  a  French  party  gone  to 
New  England,  says  that  it  is  now  24  days  ago  since  that  party  went 
out  from  Canada  w"^*"  he  left  three  days  ago  at  the  head  of  the  Otter 
Creek  at  a  place  called  Oneyade;  and  to  goe  over  a  long  carrying 
place  before  they  came  to  the  New  England  river.  This  party  con- 
sists of  i8o  men,  40  Christians  and  140  Indians;  they  are  designed 
for  Dearfeild  and  intended  to  post  themselfes  near  the  fort  and  then 
send  out  a  skulking  party  to  draw  out  the  English,  thinking  by  that 
meanes  to  take  the  place.  That  by  another  Indian  come  latter 
from  Canada,  confirms  that  this  party  is  out,  and  that  two  New 
England  captives  deserted  from  thence  14  dayes  ago.  Albany  22th 
June  1709.  Hereupon  the  Com"  for  the  Indian  affairs  have  sent 
Dan'  Ketelhuyn  expresse  with  a  letter  to  Col.  Partridge  to  give  an 
ace*  thereof."* 

The  origin  of  this  expedition  was  as  follows :  Having  been 
worsted  in  an  attack  by  the  English  under  Captain  Wright,* 
"a  party  of  Indians,"  says  De  Vaudreuil,  "feeling  piqued, 
asked  me  to  let  them  go  on  an  excursion  with  some  fifty  of 
the  most  active  Frenchmen,  and  to  allow  the  Sieur  de  Rou- 

•Deerfield. 

»M.  de  Vaudreuil   to   M.   de    Pontchartrain.     N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  Vol.  IX,  p. 
758-9. 

»N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  Vol.  5.  p.  86. 

*See  Capt.  Benjamin  Wright's  narrative  in  Sheldon's  Hist,  of  Deerfield,  Vol. 
I,  p,  369. 


mmmmmB^m^amiPssif 


HERTEL   DE   ROUVILLE.  317 

ville  and  another  to  command.    I  immediately  assented 

the  force  went  to  Giierrefille  |  Decrfield  )  where,  having  pre- 
pared an  ambush  they  caught  two  alive.' 

Hertel  de  Rouville  appears  to  have  made  many  little  "ex- 
cursions" of  this  sort  into  New  England  and  New  York. 
On  the  29th  of  August,  1708,  he  commanded  the  attack  on 
Haverhill.  Here  his  brother,  Hertel  de  Chambly,  and  Louis 
de  Verchcres,  the  friend  whom  he  had  ardently  desired  as 
his  brother-in-law,  were  slain. 

Joseph  Bradley,  the  same  who  accompanied  John  Sheldon 
to  Canada,*  secured  the  medicine  chest  and  packs  of  the  par- 
ty which  they  had  thrown  aside  on  going  into  battle  and  had 
not  time  to  gather  up  in  their  hasty  retreat  with  their  cap- 
tives. 

De  Rouville  was  sent  by  the  governor  on  an  important 
embassy  to  Boston.  Of  this  De  Vaudreuil  writes  to  Pont- 
chartrain  that  he  "had  been  fortunate  in  his  choice  of  two 
officers,  the  most  capable  of  all  Canada  of  reconnoitring  a 
country  which  at  any  moment  they  might  be  called  upon  to 
attack." 

Amidst  his  severer  duties  De  Rouville  found  time  to  mar- 
ry twice.  By  his  second  wife  he  had  five  children.  The 
names  of  his  daughters  appear  on  the  convent  lists  of  pupils, 
and  in  their  records  the  holy  sisters  mention  with  pride 
Hertel  de  Rouville  and  his  brothers  as  defenders  of  the 
church.  He  was  finaLy  sent  to  Cape  Breton  where  he  spent 
some  years,  and  died  June  30th,  1722,  at  Fort  Dauphin,  of 
which  he  was  commandant.     Among  the  prisoners  huddled 

'These  two  were  Joseph  Clesson  and  John  Arms.  The  latter  was  wound- 
ed twice  before  allowing  himself  to  be  taken.  De  Rouville's  approach  being 
discovered  it  is  probable  that  the  townsfolk,  many  of  whom  had  but  lately  re- 
turned from  Canadian  captivity,  courageously  pursued  and  compelled  the  ene- 
my to  retreat. 

'See  ante. 


WM*"ii" 


rmmmmfmmmmmmmammmmmKm&m 


318  IRllK    SIOKIKS   OK    NKW    KNCiLANI)   CAI'TIVKS. 


together  in  ICnsiKMi  John  Sheldon's  house  in  Deerfield  on 
thai  dreadful  nioiiL  in  I'ebnuiry,  170.V4.  v/aitin^^  with  her 
weei)in}r  children,  ^randehildren  and  nei^rhbors,  the  order 
to  march  into  captivity,  was  Mary  I5aldwin  Catlin,  wife  of 
iMr.  John  Catlin.  A  wounded  French  oflicer  was  brought  in 
and  laid  upon  the  lloor.  In  his  a^a)ny  he  called  piteously 
for  water.  Mrs.  Catlin  raised  his  head  and  tenderly  moistened 
his  fevered  lips.  Reproached  by  a  nei^^hbor  for  this  kindness 
to  their  enemy,  she  answered,  "If  thine  enemy  hunj4-er  feed 
him;  if  he  thirst,  ^^ive  him  drink."  When  the  captives  were 
^rathered  to^^ether  for  the  march  Mrs.  Catlin  was  left  behind, 
—tradition  says  in  return  for  her  ecmipassion.  One  touch  of 
nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin.  I  like  to  think  that  the 
wounded  officer  may  have  been  llertel  de  Rouville's  younj;- 
brother,  and  that  that  humane  act,  distilled  throu^^h  the 
blood  of  succeedin^r  <renerations,  has  inspired  me  with  the 
wish  to  present  the  llcrtels  in  a  more  favorable  li}4:ht  than 
that  in  which  we  of  New   ICnj^iand  are  accustomed  to  view 

them. 

The  Canadian  heroine,  Madeleine  de  Verehc'res,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  defended  her  father's  house  for  a  week 
against  the  Irocjuois,  while  he  was  on  duty  at  Quebec.  J'ut- 
ting  a  gun  into  the  hands  of  her  younger  brother  she  said, 
"Remember  that  our  father  has  taught  you  that  gentlemen 
must  be  ready  to  shed  thei  blood  if  need  be  in  the  .service 
of  their  (kxl  and  their  king."' 

In  our  estimate  of  the  characto-  of  Jean  Baptiste  Hertel 
de  Rouville,  we  must  not  forget  that  this  was  the  creed  on 
which  he  was  nurtured. 

'This  younfjer  De  Verdieres  l)ec;ime  lator  a  prisoner  of  war  in  Hoston;  was 
the  subjecl  of  much  ncKotiation  for  exchange.  He  appears  in  our  Archives  as 
"Hoverey  de  Vorshay." 


FATHER     MKRIKL-MARY    SILVKR. 


INTKODUCriON. 


"In  1657,"  says  Mr.  Parknian,  "the  association  of  pious  en- 
thusiasts who  had  founded  Montreal,  was  reduced  to  a  rem- 
nant of  five  or  six  persons,  whose  ei)lnnj^  zeal  and  overtaxed 
purses  were  no  lonj^er  e(|ual  to  the  devout  but  arduous  en- 
terprise. They  be^i^ed  the  Seminary  of  Saint-Sulpice  to 
take  it  off  their  hands.  The  priests  consented,  and  thoug'h 
the  conveyance  of  the  island  of  Montreal  to  these,  its  new 
proprietors,  did  not  take  effect  till  some  years  later,  four  of 
the  Sulpitian  fathers  came  out  to  the  colony  and  took  it  in 
charge. 

Thus  far,  Canada  had  had  no  bishop,  and  the  Sulj)itians 
now  aspired  to  ^ive  it  one  from  their  own  brotherhood.  'JMiis 
roused  the  jealousy  of  the  Jesuits,  who,  for  thirty  years  had 
borne  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day, — the  toils,  privations 
and  martyrdoms,  while  as  yet  the  vSulpitians  had  done  noth- 
inj^  and  endured  nothing; — and  under  the  leadership  of  the 
great  Laval,  the  long  quarrel  between  the  two  orders  began." 
It  ended  in  the  triumph  of  Laval  and  the  Jesuits. 


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320  TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND    CAPTIVES. 

From  the  earliest  period  of  their  history,  the  labors  of  the 
three  religious  communities, — Sulpitian  priests,  nuns  of  the 
Congregation  de  Notre-Dame,  and  Hospital  nuns,  have  sup- 
plemented each  other:  the  Seminary  priests  serving  as 
teachers  of  the  boys  and  as  directors  and  chaplains  of  the 
other  two  orders ;  the  Congregation  nuns  teaching  the  girls; 
and  the  Hospital  nuns  doing  duty  as  nurses  to  them  all. 

The  most  pious  friendship  unites  the  three  orders,  and 
together  they  are  regarded  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of  M    • 
treal  as  an  image  and  embodiment  of  the  Holy  Family,  Jesus, 
Mary  and  Joseph. 

FATHER    MERIEL. 

In  1690  or  91,  M.  Henri-Antoine  de  Meriel  of  Meulan  in 
the  Diocese  of  Chartres,  France,  was  sent  by  M.  Tronson, 
Superior-General  of  the  Sulpitian  Order  in  Canada,  to  succeed 
M.  BartLelemy  as  chaplain  at  the  Hotel-Dieu  in  Montreal. 

At  the  age  of  thirty,  M.  Meriel  bade  farewell  to  riches, 
honors  and  the  congenial  associations  of  his  native  land,  to 
devote  himself  to  the  poor  and  unfortunate. 

Though  his  birth,  education  and  talents  made  him  a  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  best  society  of  New  France,  his  life  was  one 
of  arduous  labor  and  self-sacrifice.  In  addition  to  his  duties 
at  the  Hotel-Dieu  he  ministered  with  great  success  to  the 
parish  of  Notre-Dame  in  Montreal,  and  was  direc  :;or  and  con- 
fessor to  the  pupils  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation. 

On  Canadian  records.  Father  Meriel  is  everywhere  pres- 
ent as  a  part  of  the  personal  history  of  the  New  England 
captives,  and  to  those  familiar  with  their  story,  the  priest's 
name  is  as  well  known  as  that  of  thf^  Puritan  preacher.  Rev. 
John  Williams.  The  latter  found  in  him  a  foeman  worthy 
of  his  steel. 

To  Father  Meriel's  knowledge  of  the  English  language, 
and  his  facility,  in  its  use,  an  accomplishment  rare  at  that 


FATHER   MERIEL— MARY   SILVER. 


321 


time  in  Canada,  we  owe  the  marvellously  exact  records  by 
which  we  are  able  to  identify  so  many  of  our  captives.' 
The  name,  age,  parentage,  the  date  and  place  of  capture,  are 
given  with  minute  detail,  in  his  exquisite  handwriting,  which 
is  like  an  oasis  in  the  desert  to  one  groping  among  the  dry 
and  almost  illegible  records  of  two  hundred  years  ago. 

By  his  ability  and  zeal,  many  were  converted  to  the  Rom- 
ish church.  Not  content  with  devoting  himself  soul  and 
body  to  this  work,  he  sp,  nt  his  patrimony  in  the  cause. 

Shortly  before  his  death  the  Intendant  and  the  Governor- 
General  wrote  to  the  home  government  asking  that  in  con- 
sideration of  his  services  he  might  be  re-imbursed  by  the 
crown. 

The  French  minister  replied  as  follows : 

"His  Majesty  has  been  informed  that  M.  Meriel,  priest  at 
Montreal,  has  spent  his  fortune  on  the  conversion  of  the 
English  of  the  colony,  and  that  he  is  so  impoverished  as  to 
be  unable  to  continue  the  good  work. 

As  His  Majesty  is  very  glad  to  give  him  proof  of  his  sat- 
isfaction with  his  zeal,  he  desires  M.  M.  de  Vaudreuil  and 
Begon  to  inform  him  how  much  money  they  think  should 
be  annually  awarded  to  M.  Meriel." 

Father  Meriel  could  not  profit  by  the  good  intentions  of 
his  sovereign.  He  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity  while  minis- 
tering to  the  sick  at  the  Hotel-Dieu,  on  the  1 2th  of  January, 
171 3,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two. 


MARY   SILVER. 

One  of  the  fruits  of  Father  Meriel's  labors  among  the  cap- 
tives was  Mary  (Adelaide)  Silver.  She  was  the  eldest  child 
of  Thomas  Silver  of  Newbury,  Mass.,  and  his  wife  Mary  Wil- 
liams. 

'See  Appendix  for  an  English  letter  by  Father  Meriel. 


322 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


Thomas  vSilver  died  in  1695,  and  his  widow  married  Cap- 
tain Simon  Wainwright, 

On  the  29th  of  Aiig-ust,  1708,  [vSept.  9,  N.  s.J  a  party  of 
French  and  Indians  attacked  Haverliill,  Mass.,  then  a  village 
of  about  thirty  houses,  with  a  meeting-house  and  a  picketed 
fort  or  garrison  house.  The  following  account  is  by  Joseph 
Bartlett,  a  soldier  in  the  garrison  house  under  Capt.  Wain- 
wright ■} 

"In  the  year  1707,  in  November,  I,  Joseph  Bartlett  was  pressed, 
and  sent  to  Haverhill.  My  quarters  were  at  the  house  of  a  captain 
Waindret.  August  29,  1708,  there  came  about  160  French  and  50 
Indians,  and  beset  the  town  of  Haverniil — set  fire  to  several  houses; 
among  which  was  that  of  captain  Waindret.  The  family  at  this  time 
were  all  reposing  in  sleep;  but  Mrs.  Waindret  waking,  came  and 
awaked  and  told  me  that  the  Indians  had  come.  I  was  in  bed  in  a 
chamber,  having  my  gun  and  ammunition  by  my  bed-side.  I  arose, 
put  on  my  small  clothes,  took  my  gun,  and  looking  out  at  a  win- 
dow, saw  a  company  of  the  enemy  ying  upon  the  ground  just  before 
the  house,  with  their  guns  presented  at  the  windows,  that  on  dis- 
covering any  person  they  might  fire  at  them.  I  put  my  gun  to  the 
window  very  still,  and  shot  down  upon  them,  and  bowed  down  un- 
der the  window;  at  which  they  fired,  but  I  received  no  harm.  1 
went  into  the  other  chamber,  in  which  was  Mrs.  Waindret,  who  told 
me  we  had  better  call  for  quarter  or  we  should  all  be  burnt  alive.  I 
told  her  we  had  better  not;  fori  had  shot,  and  believed  I  had  killed 
half  a  dozen,  and  thought  we  should  soon  have  help. 

After  reloading  my  gun,  1  was  again  preparing  for  its  discharge, 
when  I  met  with  a  Mr.   Newmarsh,  who  was  a  soldier  in  that  place. 

He  questioned  me I  answered  that  I  was  going  to  shoot.     He 

told  me  if  I  did  shoot,  we  should  all  be  killed,  as  captain  Waindret 

had    isked  for  quarter,  and  was  gone  to  open  the  door He 

said  we  must  go  and  call  for  quarter;  and,  setting  our  guns  in  the 
chamber  chimney,  we  went  down  and  asked  for  quarters. 

'See  Appendix  to  History  of  Newburyport. 


FATHER   MERIEL — MARY   SILVER. 


323 


The  entry  was  filled  with  the  enemy,  who  took  and  bound  us,  and 
plundered  the  house. 

They  killed  ..o  one  but  captain  Waindret.  When  they  had  done 
plundering  the  house,  they  marched  off,  and  at  no  great  distance, 
coming  into  a  body,  I  had  a  good  view  of  them,  so  that  I  could  give 
a  pretty  correct  account  of  their  number  expecting  to  escape." 

A  rare  volume,  entitled  "Incidents  in  the  Early  History 
of  New  England,"  gives  substantially  the  following  account 
of  the  attack  on  Haverhill : 

"One  party  rifled  and  burned  Mr.  Silver's  house.  Another  at- 
tacked the  garrison  house  of  Capt.  Samuel  Wainwright,'  killing  him 
at  the  first  fire.  To  the  surprise  of  the  garrison  who  were  bravely 
preparing  to  resist,  Mis.  Wainwright  herself  unbarred  the  door," 
spoke  kindly  to  the  enemy  as  they  entered,  served  them  and  offered 
to  get  for  them  whatever  they  wanted.  The  invaders,  bewildered 
by  this  unexpected  reception,  demanded  money.  Promising  to  get 
it,  Mrs.  Wainwright  left  the  room,  and  fled  from  the  house,  "with 
all  of  her  chddren,  except  one  daughter  who  was  taken  captive,  and 
was  not  afterwards  discovered."^ 

The  rage  of  the  enemy  on  discovering  that  they  had  been 
duped  by  a  woman,  may  be  imagined.  They  attacked  the 
garrison  with  great  violence,  at  the  same  time  attempting  to 
fire  the  house.  They  were  forced  to  retreat  with  three  cap- 
tives, one  of  whom  was  Joseph  Bartlett,  quoted  above, — an- 
other was  Mrs.  Wainwright's  daughter  by  her  first  marriage, 
Mary  Silver,  then  about  fourteen  years  old.  The  route  of 
the  captives  may  be  traced  by  Bartlett 's  narrative.  In  Feb- 
ruary he  became  the  servant  of  a  rich  Frenchman  afflicted 
with  gout.  In  his  leisure  moments  he  "Wrought  at  shoe- 
making."  He  describes  his  religious  experiences  in  Canada, 
with  charming  }iaivcti'.  His  mistress  asked  him  why  he  did 
not  "attend  meeting."     "I  answered  that  I  could  not  under- 

'Simon  Wainwright. 

'Discovered  by  the  author  in  1893,  on  Canadian  records. 


324 


TRUE   STORIES   OF   NEW   ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


stand  what  they  said.  She  said  she  could  not.  I  asked  her 
what  she  went  for.     She  answered,  to  say  her  prayers." 

In  his  quaint  New  England  dialect  he  gives  us  this  glimpse 
of  Father  Meriel's  work  among  the  captives  : 

"On  my  coming  to  reside  with  the  French,  Mr.  Meriel,  a  I'Yench 
priest,  came  and  brought  me  an  English  bible.  As  I  sat  at  shoe- 
making,  he  came  and  sat  down  beside  me,  and  questioned  me  con- 
cerning my  health,  and  whether  _  had  been  to  their  meetings.  1 
told  him  I  had  not.  On  his  asking  the  cause  I  answered  (as  I  had 
done  before)  that  I  could  not  understand  what  they  said.  He  said 
he  wished  to  have  me  come  and  witness  their  carryings  on.  I  told 
him  it  was  not  worth  my  while.  But  he  was  very  earnest  that  I 
should  come  to  his  meeting;  and  advised  me  to  try  all  things,  hold- 
ing fast  that  which  is  good.  Who  knows,  said  he,  but  that  God 
hath  sent  you  here  to  know  the  true  way  of  worship.  I  told  him  I 
believed  ours  was  the  right  way.  Says  he  we  hold  to  nothing  but 
what  we  can  prove  by  your  own  Bible.  After  considerable  conver- 
sation 1  told  him  1  did  not  know  but  that  I  should  come  to  their 
meetings  and  see  how  they  carried  on  :  which  after  a  little  ,vhile  I 
did.  Now  in  their  meeting-house  there  stood  a  large  stone  pot  of 
their  holy  water,  into  which  everyone  that  came  in  dipped  their 
finger  making  a  sign  of  a  cross,  putting  their  fingers  first  to  their 
foreheads,  then  to  their  stomachs,  afterwards  to  their  left  shoulder, 
then  to  their  right  shoulder,  saying,  'Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost 
— amen,'  and  kneeling  down,  they  say  a  short  prayer  to  themselves. 
They  hove  pulpits  in  their  houses  for  public  worship;  in  which  the 
priests  sometimes  preach. 

After  a  short  tiine  the  priest  came  again  to  visit  me,  and  asked 
me  how  I  liked  their  manner  of  worship.  I  told  him  it  seemed 
strange  to  me.  He  said  this  was  generally  the  case  at  first,  but  af- 
ter a  while  it  would  appear  otherwise." 

The  simple  cobbler  at  his  last,  disputing  doctrines  with 
the  educated  priest,  is  an  interesting  picttire  of  the  sturdy 
New  England  character.  Bartlett  gives  us  much  more  of 
his   theological    discussion   with   Father    Meriel, — but  the 


FATHER    MERIEL — MARY    SILA'ER. 


325 


priest's  efforts  to  convert  him  were  unavailing.  Bartlett 
was  redeemed  and  returned  to  Newbury  after  a  captivity  of 
four  years,  two  months  and  nine  days. 

On  arriving  at  Montreal  Mary  vSilver  was  probably  given 
at  once  in  charge  of  the  "Sisters  of  the  Congregation."  Her 
name  appears  in  our  Archives  on  a  "Roll  of  English  Prison- 
ers in  the  hands  of  the  French  and  Indians  at  Canada  Given 
to  Mr.  Vaudruille's  Messengers,"  dated  1710-11.'  This  roll 
was  probably  sent  to  Canada  by  the  French  officers  who  had 
come  to  Albany  with  Dutch  prisoners,  bringing  also  John 
Arms  of  Deerfield  to  exchange  for  Sieur  de  Verchc'res,  who 
had  been  taken  prisoner  in  the  attack  on  Haverhill.' 

In  Canada  the  usual  agitation  follows  this  demand  of  our 
Government  for  the  return  of  the  captives.  The  records 
are  teeming  with  their  baptism  and  marriage.     Here  is  one: 

"On  Sunday,  the  2nd  of  February  17 10,  the  rite  of  baptism  was 
administered  by  me  the  undersigned  priest,  to  an  English  girl  named 
Mary  Silver,  who  born  at  Haverhill  in  New  England  on  Wednesday, 
March  xoth,  1694,  [28  Feb.  1693-4]  of  the  marriage  of  Thomas  Sil- 
ver, deceased,  and  Dame  Mary  Williams  now  Widow,  by  her  second 
marriage,  of  Mr.  Simon  Wainwright,  Judge,  Captain  and  Command- 
ant of  the  said  place  ;  which  girl  having  been  captured  on  Sunday, 
the  pth  of  September,  1708,  by  Monsieur  Contrecoeur  Esquire, 
officer  in  the  troops  of  Canada,  and  brought  to  this  country,  lives 
as  a  pupil  in  the  house  of  the  Soeurs  de  la  Congregation  de  Notre- 
Dame,  at  Villemarie. 

Her  godfather  was  the  High  and  Mighty  Seigneur  Messire  Phil- 
ippe de  Rigaud,  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  Chevalier  of  the  military  or- 
der of  Saint-Louis,  and  Governor  General  of  New  France  ;  her  god- 
mother, Madame  Charlotte  Denis,  wife  of  M.  Claude  de  Ramezay, 
Chevalier  of  the  order  of  Saint-Louis,   Seignieur  de  Lageste  Bois- 


'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  71,  p.  760. 

^See  Sheldon's  Hist,  of  Deerfield,  Vol.  I,  p.  373,  et  seq.     See  Appendix. 


Ill    llll    iHIIIIWiPII'WMBi 


wm 


326  TkUK    STOKIKS   OF    NKW    KNCILAND    CAI'TIVES. 


fleurant,  and  (Governor  of  tlie  Island  of  Montreal  and  its  depend- 
encies,— all  of  whom  signed  with  me  according  to  the  ordinance." 

The  autographs  of  Mary  Sih'er,  her  godparents,  and  Fa- 
ther Meriel  follow. 

She  was  probably  confirmed  soon  after  her  baptism.  The 
precise  date  is  unknown,  as  no  records  of  this  rite  were  then 
kept.  As  it  was  the  custom  at  confirmation  to  add  another 
name  to  that  given  at  baptism,  she  then  received  the  name 
of  Adelaide.  Thenceforth,  on  Canadian  records,  she  appears 
as  Adelaide  Silver. 

rler  Puritan  mother,  distressed  by  the  rumor  that  her 
child  was  about  to  become  a  Romanist,  addressed  to  the 
General  Court  the  following  petition  :' 

"Havkrhim,.  April  29.  1710 

To  His  Hxcellency  Joseph  Dudley  Esq 

Capt  (renerall  and  Governor  in  Chief,  and  to  y"  Honorable  Coun- 
cil and  General  Assembly  Now  Mett  the  petition  of  Widow  Mary 
Wainwright  humbly  showeth  that  Whereas  my  Daughter  hath  been 
for  a  long  time  in  Captivity  with  y^'  French  in  Canada  and  I  have 
late  reason  to  fe?.r  that  her  soul  is  in  great  Dainger  if  not  all  redy 
captivated  and  she  brought  to  their  ways  theirefore  I  would  humbly 
Intreat  your  Excelency  that  some  care  may  be  taken  for  her  Re- 
demption before  Canada  be  so  Endeared  to  her  that  I  shall  never 
have  my  Daughter  any  more  ;  Some  are  ready  to  say  that  there  are 
so  few  captives  in  Canada  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  poot  y"  Cun- 
try  to  ye  charges  to  send  for  them  but  I  hoope  your  Excelency  no  [r] 
No  other  Judichous  men  will  thinck  so  for  St.  James  hath  Instructed 
us  as  you  may  see  Chap.  5  v  20  Let  him  know  that  he  which  con- 
verteth  the  sinner  from  the  errour  of  his  way,  shall  save  a  soul  from 
Death  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins  this  is  all  1  can  do  at 
present  but  I  desire  humbly  to  Begg  of  God  that  he  would  Direct 
the  hearts  of  our  Rulers  to  do  that  which  may  be  most  for  his  Glory 

'Mass.  Archives.     Vol.  105,  p.  59. 


FATIIKK    MKKIKI.—MAkV    SIIAKR.  327 


and  for  the  good  of  his  poor  Distressed  Oeatures  and  so  1  take  leave 
to  subscribe  myself  your  most  Humble  petitioner 

Mary  Wainwright  Widow 
In  tlic  House  of  Representatives  June  9.  17  10. 
Read  y'   12"'  read  and  recomended 

In  Council 
June  12.   1710     Read  (S:  concurred  in." 

This  petition  was  of  no  avail.  It  was  not  long  before  her 
friends  in  New  Enj^land  learned  that  Mary  (Adelaide)  Silver 
had  made  publie  abjuration  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  be- 
fore the  elose  of  the  year  i/ro  in  her  eighteenth  year  she 
entered  the  eon  vent  of  the  "Hospital  Nuns  of  vSt.  Jo.seph," 
usually  known  as  the  ''S,n'//rs  >!•■  F Hotil-Dicu:'  Her  deser- 
tion of  the  convent  in  v/hich  sh^i  liad  been  protected  and  ed- 
ticated,  to  enter  a  different  order,  seems  strange  and  capri- 
cious. It  is,  however,  explained  by  the  fact  that  she  pre- 
ferred the  duties  of  a  nurse  to  those  of  a  teacher. 

Teaching  is  the  vocation  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congrega- 
tion ;  nursing,  that  of  the  nuns  of  the  Hotel-Dieu.  From  the 
earliest  period  of  their  history  in  Canada  the  two  orders 
have  been  closely  united  in  affection  and  intercourse,  so  that 
to  use  their  own  words  they  have  always  regarded  them- 
selves as  one  and  the  same  community. 

In  the  early  days,  the  two  convents  were  near  neighbors, 
their  court  yards  adjoining,  and  they  made  each  other  fre- 
quent visits.  The  nuns  of  both  convents  love  to  tell  how  in 
the  olden  time,  they  used  to  sit  at  sun.set  on  their  respective 
balconies,  responding  to  each  other  with  hymns  and  canticles 
of  gratitude  and  of  pious  joy.^ 

The  New  England  girl  of  to-day  will  find  it  hard  to  under- 
stand how  a  young  girl,  free  to  choose,  vshould  have  elected 
the  arduous  duties  of  a  nurse  in  a  cloister  in  preference  to 
the  more   agreeable   occupation   of   teaching,  with  greater 

^''Cantiques  de  reconnaissance,  ct  de pieuse  alk'gresse," 


SESS 


328 


TRUE   STORIES   OV    NEW    ENGLAND   CAPTIVES. 


freedom  and  variety  in  her  life.  It  is  evident  that  her  train- 
ing and  surroundings,  at  the  most  impressible  period  of  a 
young  girl's  life,  had  made  of  her  a  devotee. 

At  the  Hotel-Dieu  she  came  again  under  the  influence  of 
Father  Meriel. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  while  stipulating  for  a  gen- 
eral exchange  of  prisoners,  included  a  clause  whereby  the 
English  converted  to  Catholicism  during  their  captivity 
should  have  entire  liberty  to  remain  in  Canada.  This  ap- 
parent freedom  of  will  was  greatly  hampered  by  their  train- 
ing and  naturalization  in  Canada,  and  comparatively  few 
converts  returned  to  New  England.  Mary  Adelaide  Sil- 
ver's mother  wrote  entreating  her  to  return,  and  sent  money 
with  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  (Governor  of  Canada,  to  send 
her  home. 

"But,"  says  the  annalist  of  the  convent,  "the  generous  girl 
preferring  the  treasures  of  the  faith  to  all  worldly  advan- 
tages replied  to  the  Governor  as  follows:  'Monsieur,  I  ten- 
derly love  my  dear  mother,  but  before  everything,  I  am 
bound  to  obey  God,  and  I  declare  to  you  that  I  am  resolved 
to  live  in  the  holy  religion  which  I  have  embraced,  and  to 
die  a  nun  of  »Saint- Joseph.  My  dearest  wish  is,  that  before 
my  death,  I  may  see  my  mother  embrace  the  holy  Catholic 
faith,  with  the  light  of  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  enlight- 
en me.'" 

Mary  Adelaide  Silver  adhered  to  her  resolution  to  remain 
in  Canada.  Her  zeal  was  as  fervent,  her  industry  as  untir- 
ing as  that  of  Father  Meriel.  At  his  death  she  took  his  place 
as  catechist  and  apostle  to  the  captives.  After  thirty  years 
of  convent  life,  she  died  at  the  Hotel-Dieu  on  the  2nd  of 
April,  1740.  Two  days  later  she  was  buried  in  the  vault  of 
the  old  convent  church,  then  standing  at  the  corner  of  St. 
Paul  and  St.  Sulpice  streets  in  Montreal. 

In  i860,  those  there  interred  were  removed  to  the  crypt  of 


KATIIKR    MKKIEL— MAkV    SII.VKU. 


329 


the  church  of  the  new  convent  on  the  Avenue  des  Pins, 
where  the  mortal  remains  of  Mary  Adelaide  Silver  now 
rest. 


■a 


«■* 


It 


APPENDIX. 


■ 


f^i^m 


APPENDIX. 
A. 

CHRISTINE   OTIS. 

Grizel  [or  Grizet]  Warren,  wife  of  Richard  Otis  of  Dover, 
N.  H.,  was  captured  in  the  attack  on  that  town,  June  28,  1689, 
with  her  infant  Margaret,  and  two  older  children.  In  Rev. 
John  Williams's  "Redeemed  Captive,"  Grizel  Otis  figures 
as  "Madam  Grizalem."  Captured  earlier  than  those  of  Deer- 
field  and  other  towns,  she  seems  to  have  become  reconciled 
to  her  fate  before  their  arrival  in  Canada,  and  to  have  be- 
friended them,  while  serving  as  a  valuable  assistant  to  Fa- 
ther Meriel  in  his  ministrations  among  them. 

The  following  is  a  copy,  verbatim  ct  literatim  of  the  record 
of  her  baptism  in  Canada.  Evidently  ''avec  trois  de  ses  en- 
f ants'  is  omitted  before  "■dnqiier  &c. : 

"Ze  Samedi  neuvieme  jour  de  Mai  veille  de  la  Pentccote  de  Van 
mil  six  cents  quatre  vingts  treize  a  dU  solenellement  hatisde  une 
femme  Angloise  cy-devant  ndmmt'e  Madame  Kresek  Laquelle  nde 
' h  Barwio  en  la  Nouvelle  Angleterre  le  vingt  quatrieme  jour  de 
Fi'vrier  [vieux  stile  oii  6  mars  nouveau  stile']  de  Van  mil  six  cens 
soixante  et  deux  du  mariage  de  Jacques  Waren  Ecossois  Protestant 
et  de  MargxLerite  Irlandoise  Catholique  et  marii'e  c\  defunt  Ricliard 


^aamnamaiM 


334  APPENDIX. 


Otheys  Ilahitant  de  Douvrea  en  la  Nouvelle  Angleterre  ayant  Hd 
prise  en  guerre  le  vinythnitihne  jour  de  ouin  de  Van  mil  six  cens 
quatre-vingt  iieuf  {duquel  ne  ltd  est  resU  quune  petite  fille  agi'e 
de  qxiatre  ans  comme  etant  ni*e  lel6  Mars  1689)  nommde anhatcme 
Christine  aiant  I'ti'  prise  en  guerre  le  vingt  huiticme  jour  de  Juin 
vieux  stile  [t»w  8  Juillet  nouveau  stile]  de  Van  mil  six  cens  quatre 
vingts  neuf  demeure  au  service  de  Monsieur  de  Maricour.  Kile 
a  dtd  nommde  Marie-Madeleine.  Son  Parrein  a  dtd  Monsieur 
Jaques Le  Ber  Marchand.  Sa  marraine,  Danie  Maiie-Madelaine 
Dupont  dpouse  de  Monsieur  le  moine  Ecuyer  Sieur  de  Maricour, 
Capitaine  de  ddtachement  de  la  Marine 

[Signed]         Le  Ber. 

Fran :  D oilier  de  Casson,  Or.  vie. 
M.  M.  DupontP 

Marie-Madeleine  Hotesse  is  on  a  list  of  persons  confirmed 
Sept.  8,  1693. 

The  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  record  of  hei  mar- 
riage in  Canada : 

"ZV/w  de  grace  mil  six  cent  nonante  et  trois  le  quimitme  d'  Oc- 
tohre  aprc'S  les  fiayigailles  et  la  puhlicaon  d'lin  hanfaite  en  la  grand 
Messe  d''onzicmejour  dud  mois  et  an,  d'^entres  Philipe  RohitaiUe 
fils  de  Jean  RohitaiUe  et  d^Martine  Cornion  ses  j>cre  et  mere  de  la 
Paroisse  de  Bronroux  en  Artois  et  Marie  Madeleine  oilaren  veiwe 
de  dt'funi  Richard  Otheys  hahitant  de  Bouvres  en  la  Nouvelle- 
Angleterro  tous  deux  de  ce  paroiffe  Monsieur  Dollier  grand  vi- 
caire  [illegible]  ayant  donnd  la  despense  des  deux  autres  bans  et 
ne  s'dtant  dc'counert  aucune  einpech'"*  M.  Meriel  prHre  du 
Gonsentement  de  moi  soussignd  curd  de  la  2)a7'oiffe  de  Ville-marie 
les  a  inaride  selon  la  forme  prdsc rite  par  la  Ste  Eglise  en  prdsence 
de  Charles  Le  Moyne  Ecuyer  Sieur  de  Maricour  capitaine  rdfoi'mc 
dans  Us  troupes  de  la  marine  qui  sont  prdsent  de  Dame  Marie 
Mmleleine  Dupont  son  dpouse,  de  Monsieur  Jaques  Le  Ber  Mar- 
chand de  M^  forestier  et plusieurs  autres  aniies.''^ 


APPENDIX.  335 


Philippe  Robitaille,  son  of  the  above,  was  baptized  in  Mon- 
treal, Feb.  5,  1695. 

On  a  list  of  persons  to  whom  naturalization  is  granted  in 

May,  1 7 10,  are: 

"Mag''""  Ooarin  ICnglishwoman,  married  to  Philippe  Robitaille 
cooper,  established  at  ViUe-Marie,  by  whom  she  has  four  children." 

"Christine  Otis,  Englishwoman,  brought  with  her  mother  to  Can- 
ada, married  to  Louis  Le  Beau,  carpenter  established  at  Ville- Marie." 


B. 


ESTHER  WHEELWRIGHT. 


Note  Capt  Phineas  Stevens  was  born  in  Sudbury,  Massachusetts, 
whence  his  father  removed  to  Rutland,  Vt.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  was  carried  captive  to  Canada.  On  his  return  he  settled  in  what 
is  now  Charlestown,  N.  H.,  then  known  as  "Number  Jour 

He  was  an  active  partisan  officer  during  the  trench  and  Indian 
war,  and  died  in  public  service  in  1756.  He  was  often  employed  by 
the  Massachusetts  Government  as  ambassador  to  Canada  for  the  ex- 
change of  captives.     His  name  appears  frequently  in  our  Archives. 

Note  Major  Nathaniel  Wheelwright,  son  of  Colonel  John,  grand- 
son of  Colonel  Samuel,  and  greatgrandson  of  the  celebrated  Rever- 
end John  Wheelwright,  was  born  in  Boston  in  1721.  He  marned 
there  in   1755,  the  daughter  of  Charles  Apthorp,  his  disunguished 

fellow-citizen.  ,  ,      ,         r  t>     ..  > 

Maior  Wheelwright  was  a  merchant  and  banker  of  Boston  aiaU 
London.  His  character  and  his  social  position  gave  him  great  in- 
fluence in  public  affairs,  and  he  was  employed  by  the  Massachusetts 
government  in  diplomatic  positions,  requiring  tact,  judgment  and 
personal  dignity.  He  served  twice  at  least  as  ambassador  from  New 
England  to  Canada  for  the  redemption  of  captives  taken  in  the  ok. 
French  and  Indian  wars.  Major  Wheelwright  died  in  1766,  on  the 
island  of  Guadaloupe.' 

'To  the  generosity  of  a  collateral  relative,  Mr.  Edmund  M.  Wheelwright  of 
Boston  I  am  greatly  indebted,  especially  for  the  interesting  pictures  of  Esther 
Wheelwright  and  her  handiwork  that  appear  in  this  volume. 


SBagsssSSSSSSiiSSSSSSSSSSSSS^^ 


!■■■■■■■■■■■ 


i**Sk:jir--'.WmtUMM, 


336 


APPENDIX. 


In  the  summer  of  175?,  Phineas  Stevens  and  Major  Na- 
thaniel Wheelwright,  (nephew  of  the  captive  Esther  Wheel- 
wright,) were  sent  to  Canada  by  our  government,  to  demand 
the  rendition  of  New  England  captives.     The  history  of  their 

embassy  appears  in  the  records  as  follows : 

"Jan.  30,  1752 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  it  was  Voted  that  his  Honour 
the  Lieut.  Governor  with  advice  of  the  Council  be  desired  to  take 
speedy  and  effectual  Care  for  the  Redemption  of  the  Captives  now 
in  Canada  at  the  charge  of  the  Government."' 

"At  a  Council  held  at  Harvard  College  in  Cambridge  upon  Fri- 
day the  third  of  April  1752,  sitting  the  General  Court.  It  was  Ad- 
vised that  his  Hon"^:  the  Lieutenant  Gov'':  appoint  Capt.  Phineas 
Stevens  &  Mr  Nathaniel  Wheelwright  to  negotiate  the  affair  of  Re- 
deeming the  Captives  in  Canada  in  pursuance  of  a  vote  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court  pass'd  the  29th  of  January  last,  and  that  His  Honour  di- 
rect them  to  pri'ceed  to  Canada  with  his  Despatches  as  soon  as  the 
Season  of  tl  e  Year  will  permit.'"'^ 

"At  a  Met^  'ng  of  a  Number  of  the  members  of  Her  Majesty's 
Council  held  a  the  Court  House  in  Charlestown,  April  17,  1752,  It 
was  advised  and  consented  that  a  warrant  be  made  out  to  the  Treas- 
urer to  pay  unto  John  Wheelwright  Esq.  for  the  Use  of  the  Gentle- 
men going  to  Canada  in  the  Service  of  the  Governmen*^:  the  sum  of 
ninety  Pounds  towards  the  defraying  their  charges  on  the  affair, 
they  to  be  accountable  therefor  at  their  Return.  The  Secretary 
laid  before  the  Council  the  Draught  of  a  Letter  his  Honour  proposed 
to  send  to  the  Governor  of  Canada  for  demanding  the  Release  of 
the  captives.  Which  letters  being  considered  were  advised  by  the 
Council.  The  Secretary  also  laid  before  the  Council  a  Draught  of 
Instructions  His  Honour  proposed  to  p've  to  the  Gentlemen  going 
to  Canada  on  the  affair  of  the  Captives,  to  which  the  Council  ad- 
vised."^ 


'Mass.  General  Court  Records,  i749-i753.  P-  426. 
''Mass.  Council  Records,  I747-I755.  Vol.  12,  p.  253. 
'Mass.  Council  Records,  Vol.  12. 


APPENDIX. 


337 


"At  a  Council  held  at  the  Court  House  in  Concord  upon  Thurs- 
day the  Fourth  of  June,  1752  it  was  Advised  and  Consented  that  a 
Warrant  be  made  out  to  the  Treasurer  to  pay  to  Jacob  Wendell 
Esq""  the  Sum  of  Fift,  Four  Pounds  six  shillinj^s  to  discharge  a  Bill 
of  Exchange  drawn  on  the  said  Treasurer  by  Messrs  Stevens  and 
Wheelwright  Mc^^engers  to  Canada  for  Moneys  taken  up  for  the 
Public  service."' 

"At  a  Council  held  at  the  Lieut.-(}overnor's  House  in  Cambridge 
on  Thursday  Aug.  13.  1752  His  Honour  communicated  to  the  Coun- 
cil Letters  he  had  received  from  Monsieur  Longueil  Commander  in 
Chief  in  Canada  &  Messrs  Stevens  &  Wheelwright  Messengers  sent 
from  this  Government  on  the  affair  of  the  Captives  and  the  Copy  of 
a  Conference  between  the  said  Centlemen  and  some  of  the  St.  Fraa- 
gois  Indians,  with  a  Fist  of  the  English  captives  ransomed  by  them 
with  other  papers  relating  to  their  Negotiation."-^ 

The  following  are  the  official  documents  above-mentioned: 
"Speech  of  the  Abenakisof  Saint-Franyoi.s  to  Captain  Stev- 
ens, deputy  from  the  Governor  of  Boston,  in  presence  of  M. 
le  Baron  de  Longueuil,  Governor  of  Canada,  and  of  Iroquois 
frotn  the  Sault  Saint-Louis,  and  from  the  Lake  of  the  Two 
Mountains,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1752.  ArtiSaneto,  Chief  Ora- 
tor: 

"Brother, 

We  shall  talk  to  you  as  if  we  were  speaking  to 
your  Governor  in  Boston.  We  hear  on  all  sides  that  this  Governor 
and  the  Bastonnais^  say  the  Abenakis  are  bad  people.  It  is  in  vain 
that  you  charge  as  with  bad  hearts;  it  is  always  you,  our  brothers, 
who  have  attacked  us;  you  have  a  sweet  tongue,  but  a  heart  of  gall. 
I  admit,  that  when  you  begin  it  we  can  defend  ourselves. 

'Mass.  Conncil  Records,  Vol.  12. 

'^Mass.  Council  Records,  Vol.  12. 

^The  people  of  N.  E.  were  known  at  that  time  in  Canada  as  "The  Baston- 
nais."  On  my  first  visit  to  Boucl.erville  a  nonagenarian  desired  to  shake 
hands  with  me  as  "unedes  Bastonnais." 


338 


APPENDIX. 


We  tell  you,  l^rother,  that  we  are  not  anxious  for  war.  We  like 
nothing  better  than  to  be  at  peace,  and  it  needs  only  that  M'r  Eng- 
lish br{)tht"s  keep  peace  with  iis We  wish  to  keep  possession 

of  the  lands  on  which  we  live We  will   not  give  up  an  inch 

of  the  land  which   we  inhabit,   beyond  that  lo  g  ago  decided    upon 

by  our  brothers We    forbid   you    absolutely    from  killing  a 

single  beaver  or  taking  one  bit  of  wood  on  our  lands.  If  you  want 
wood  we  will  sell  it  to  you,  but  you  shall  not  have  it  without  our 
permission.  Who  has  authorized  you  to  have  our  lands  measured  ? 
We  pray  the  Governor  of  IJaston  to  have  these  surveyors  punished, 
for  we  cannot  believe  they  are  acting  under  his  orders.  Vou  are 
then  the  arbiters  of  peace  between  us.  As  soon  as  you  cease  to  en- 
croach upon  these  lands,  we  shall  be  at  peace." 

MK  I'RKHKNTS  A    liKl.l'. 

"I  repeat,  by  this  belt,  it  belongs  to  you  only,  to  keep  peace  with 
us  Abenakis. 

Our  father  here  present  has  nothing  to  do  with  what  we  are  saying 
to  you.  It  is  on  our  own  behalf  and  for  our  allies  that  we  speak. 
We  regard  our  father  simply  as  a  witness  of  our  words Un- 
der no  pretext  whatever  must  you  pass  beyond  your  limits 

We  are  a  free  people;  allies  of  the  French  King  from  whom  we  have 
received  our  Religion,  and  help  in  time  of  need.  We  love  him  anil 
we  will  serve  his  interests.  Answer  this  speech  as  soon  as  possible. 
Report  it  in  writing  to  your  Governor.  We  shall  ke-ip  a  copy  of  it. 
It  will  not  be  difficult  for  your  Oovernor  to  send  us  his  reply.  He 
can  address  it  to  our  Father  who  will  kindly  send  it  to  us." 

Stevens's  rkpi.v. 

"I  shall  report  to  my  Governor,  your  words,  my  brothers,  and  I 
will   carry  it  to  him  in   writing  that   nothing  in  it  may  be  altered. 

I  ask  you,  my  Abenaki  brothers,  if  your  attacks  upon  the  English 
during  the  past  two  years  have  been  because  of  their  encroachments 
upon  your  lands.  Are  you  satisfied  with  the  death  of  your  people 
by  means  of  the  blows  you  have  struck  against  the  English  ?  I 
know  that  we  must  not  encroach  on  your  lands.  Those  who  have 
done  so  are  stupid,  lawless  people." 


APPENDIX. 


339 


AliKNAKIS    ION  riNUK. 

•'When  peace  was  made  we  expected  to  enjoy  it  with  llie  French, 
but  at  the  same  moment  we  learned  tliat  you,  o-ir  Knglish  brothers, 
had  killed  ouc  of  our  men  and  had  hidden  him  in  the  ice. 
When  we  demanded  why  you  had  killed  him,  you  promised  us  satis- 
faction, but  your  ill-will  towards  us  has  been  shown  by  your  inac- 
tion during  seven  months,  and  we  resolved  to  defend  ourselves,  and 
have  destroyed  a  house.  Since  that  a  man  and  a  woman  of  (Hir  vil- 
lage are  missing.  We  have  learned  their  sad  fate  by  an  iMiglish- 
vvoman  who  is  now  with  us,  who  affirms  that  this  man  and  woman 
were  killed  by  the  English  in  her  presence,  and  as  positive  proof  of 
this  she  has  brought  us  a  bag  which  we  recognize  as  having  belonged 
to  these  unfortunates.  We  were  touched  by  this  murder  as  we  ought 
to  be,  and  we  avenged  ourselves   last  year.     The   English  that  we 

have  killed  this  year, and  the   two  others  taken   prisoners, 

may  attribute  their  hard  fate  to  the  fact  that  they  have  been  caught 
hunting  on  our  lands,  and  we  repeat  with  all  the  firmness  of  which 
we  are  capable,  that  we  will  kill  all  the  English  that  we  find  on  our 

lands, if  any  of  you  are  caught  on   our   lands  you    will  be 

killed." 

TUK  IROQUOIS  TO  TIIK  AliF.NAKIS. 

"We  have  heard  with  pleasure  your  speech  to  the  Englishman. 
We  are  delighted  that  you  have  defended  your  rights  with  spirit. 
We  beg  you  to  make  your  words  good,  if  need  be,  and  we  promise 
to  help  you." 

"Proces-Verbal,"'  or  official  report  of  their  embassy  dated 
July  25,  1752,  signed  by  Stevens  and  Wheelwright  with  their 
Interpreter  Daniel  Joseph  Maddox :  ^ 

"Nous  soufsignes  Phineas  Stevens  et  Nataniel  Weerlight  deputes 
par  ordre  de  Monsieur  S.  Phips  Lieutenant  Gouverneur  et  Command- 
ant en  chef  a  Baston   aupres  de  Monsieur  le  Baron  de   Eongueuil 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  5,  P-  542. 

'Daniel  Joseph  Maddox,  a  naturalized  captive,  baptized  in  Montreal  in 
1710,  married  there  in  1713,  appears  often  on  Canadian  Archives  as  Interpreter 
to  our  ambassadors. 


I 


rf..*iJ«»U»«#^V..»  -..Hifc^^^-i .- 


r:  v^^jv--  a^'K^,  vmix: 


340 


AlPENDIX. 


Gouveriieiir  c1;;  Montreal  et  Commandant  en  Canada  a  I'effet  de 
traitter  (u'c)  cle  la  lihertc  des  prison niers  Anglois  qui  sont  detenus 
en  Canada  certifions  qae  nion  dit  Sieur  l.e  Ilaron  de  Longueuil  des 
le  six  de  Juin  que  nous  sommts  arrives  a  Montreal,  a  donnc  ses  or- 
dres  et  nous  a  donnc  une  enticre  libertu  pour  parler  aux  dits  prison- 
niers,  et  les  rapelier  auprcsde  nous  pour  lesramener  dans  la  nouvelle 
Angleterre. 

Qu'en  consequence  nous  Nathaniel  VVierlierlight  nous  fommes 
transportes  aux  trois  Rivieres  et  ;\  Quebec,  etavons  confere  aux  trois 
Rivieres  en  presence  de  Mr  Rigaud  de  Vaudreuil  Gouverneur,  avec 
les  Anglois  faits  prisonniers  par  les  sauvages,  et  qui  «,ont  au  pouvoir 
tant  les  dits  savajes  que  des  Fran(;ois  qui  les  ont  rachetes. 

Que  la  meme  facilite  nous  a  ete  donnee  h  Quebec  oh  nous  nous 
sonimes  aussi  transporte  par  M.  le  Chevalier  de  J.ongueiiil  Lieutenant 
de  Roy  Com'"  en  la  ditte  [sic]   Place. 

Qu'a  notre  retour  a  Montreal  nous  avons  rejoint  le  d'S'  Phinehas 
Stevens  qui  de  son  cote  a  travaille  a  rapelier  les  dits  Prisonniers 
qui  sont  dans  le  Crouvernemtnt  de  Montreal.  Et  apres  avoir  fait  le 
sejour  que  nous  avons  juge  necessaire  en  Canada,  nous  nous  fommes 
determines  a  partir  pour  aller  rendre  compte  de  notre  mission  a  Mr 
S.  Phips  notre  Com'"  en  chef  et  en  consequence  nous  declarons  et 
afifirmons  Premierement  que  les  nommes  cy  apres  nous  ont  ete  de- 
livres,  et  que  nous  les  ramenons  avec  nous  Sgavoir 

Thomas  Stannard     rachete  ci  devant  a  Quebec  par  un  frangois  des 

mains  d'un  Sauvage  lequel  fran(;ois  lui  a  donne 
sa  liberte    gratuiteusement. 
Samuel  Lumbart   )    retires  de  chez  le  S''  Cadet  i\  Quebec  en  lui  pay- 
Edouard  Hinkley  )    ant  cent  livres,  dont  il  s'est  tenu  content,  quoy 

qu'il  eut  paye  davantage  aux  Sauvages. 
retires  de  ches  le  S'  Gamelin  b.  S'  Frangois,  en 
lui  remboursant  pour  chacun  trois  cens  livres 
qu'il  avoit  payees  aux  Sauvages. 
retire  de  ches  la  dame  Hertel  de  S'  Fran(;ois, 
en  payant  trois  cens  Livres  qu'elle  avoit  payees 
aux  Sauvages. 


Amos  Eastman  ) 
Seth  Webb  f 

Oner  Hancock 


APl'ENDIX.  341 


Thimoty  Mackerly    (jui  avoit  restc  malade  h  I'liupital  ;\  Montreal, 

fait  prisoiinier  pendant  la  guerre. 
Joseph  fortner  pns  aux  Mianiis  s'est  retire  volontairement. 

En  second  lieu  qu'il  nt  nous  a  pas  etc  possible  de  ravoir  les 
nomnies  cy  aprcs  quekjues  ordres  que  M.  le  Baron  de  Longueuil 
ait  pu  donner,  Syavoir 

Herney  Gradey  a  voulu  raster  h  Quebec. 

Rachel  Quaenbouts'  rachetee  cies  sauvagcs  par  Mr  De  Rigaud,  ou  elle 

veut  absolumen'^  rester,  s'y  trouvant  parfaite- 
ment  bien. 

Jean  Starkes  le  d'Starkes  vient  d'etre  rendu  sous  prtjmesse 

d'etre  remplace  par  un  esclave  pris  par  les 
Abenakis  de  St  Franyois  qui  se  sont  (bstines  a 
les  garder  quelques  instances  que  Mr  de  Ri- 
gaud  ait  faites,  les  ayant  adoptcs. 

Abigail  Noble  pris  et  reste  au   pouvoir  des  Abenakis  de  Be- 

quancourt  qui  I'ont  sdopte. 

Salomon  Mitchel        age  d'environ  douze  ans  a  voulu   absolument 

rester  a  Montreal  ches  le  S''  Des  I'ins,  et  Mr  Le 
Haron  de  Longucuil  n'a  par  cru  devoir  le  forger 
a  parti r,  malgre  luy. 

Elizabeth  schinner    a  voulu  rester  ches  M""  de  St  Ange  Charly,  qui 

I'a  rachetee  des  sauvages  il  y  a  quelques  annees, 
elle  a  fait  abjuration. 

Samuel  freeman         Indien  au  pouvoir  de  M'  de  la  Corne  St  Luc  a 

ete  pris  a  Sarastau-  par  les  fran(;ois.  M""  de  St 
Luc  le  rendei-a  pourvft  qu'on  le  remplace  quoy 
qu'il  ait  ete  decede  par  feu  M.  le  Marquis  de  la 
Jonquiere  qu'il  etait  de  bonne  prise,  et  qu'il 
estoit  esclave. 

'This  captive  with  several  others,  according  to  a  Procfes-Verbal  dated  June 
25,  1750,  having  abjured  Protestantism,  absolutely  refused  to  return  with  Lieut. 
Benjamin  Stoddard  of  New  York. 

^Saratoga. 


iHii-h'MliMaMilllili  II 


*---'■    <l>*ttt>^M... 


34^ 


AI'I'KNDIX. 


Thomas  Neal 
Saras  Davids 


William Ncgre  prir.  ;\  Chibouctou,  au  pouvoir  de  Mr  I,c 

Ch"  I)e  La  Corne  qui  le  jj;ardc  par  les  mcines 
raisons  que  M'  de  St  Luc,  et  olYrc  de  Ic  remettre 
aux  mcmes  conditions, 
a  voulu  rester  ;\  Montreal. 

pris  par  les  Iroquois  du  Sault  Saint-Louis  qui 
I'ont  adoptc  et  n'a  pas  voulu  les  (juitter. 
"En  troisicme  lieu,  nous  dcclarons  et  affirmons,  que  toutes  per- 
quisitions par  nous  faites,  et  quelques  facilitcs  que  M""  Le  I3aron  De 
Longueuil  nous  ait  donnc,  nous  n'avons  point  trouve  d'autres  prison- 
niers  Anglois  en  Canada.  En  foy  de  quoy  nous  nous  sommes  signcs 
avec  mon  dit  Sieur  Baron  de  Longueuil  t  le  S''  NLiddox  interprete 
en  langue  Angloise  fait  double  a  Montreal  le  vingt  cinq  juillet  mil 
sept  cens  cinquante  deux. 

[Signed]  Longueuil, 

Phineas  Stevens, 
Nat.  Wheelwright, 
Dan"  Joseph  maddox." 


"A  List  of  the  English  Prisoners  which  the  Abenakis  Lidians 
have  brought  to  Quebec'  The  Saint-Fran(;ois  Indians  to  the  Num- 
ber of  Forty  have  struck  near  Richmond  Fort  to  revenge  the  Death 
of  an  Abenakis  Chief  which  the  English  have  killed  near  Boston,  & 
have  Brought  in  this  City,  the  Prisoners  following  which  they  have 
sold  to  the  French  who  was  willing  to  buy  them,  viz*^: 
The  Sieur  Chalour^  has  bought  one 

named  Lazarus  Noble  for  ;^20o. 

For  Cloathes  furnish'd  40- 


;^240. 

Le  S'':  Rivolt  has  bought 

Jabez  Chub  for 

£200. 

For  Cloathes  furnish'd 

80. 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  74,  p.  57. 


;^280. 

"M.  St.  Ange  Charly? 


AIM'KNDIX. 

343 

The  S:'  'I'urpine  has  bouj^ht 
John  Rofs  for 

/'SO- 

Kor  Cloaths  funiish'd 

SO- 

/-oo. 

Mr  Decouagnc'^  has  boujjht 
Abijjail  Noble  for 

/260. 

For  CMoaths  l-'urnishM 

122   15" 

M"  Diiperc  has  boujjht 
Anna  Homes  ft)r 

^282  -  IS 

/200. 

For  Cloaths  Furnish'd 

50- 

The  S:  Bazin  has  bought 

/2SO- 

I'hillipps  Jenkins  for 

/15O 

For  Cloaths  Furnish'd 

100 

This  man  died  at  the  Hospital 
28.  Oct.  1750. 

Those  which  follows  have  been  taken 
by  the  liecancourt  Indians  and  bought  of 
them. 

The  Cadet  Bought  John  Marten  he  has  Ob- 
tain'd  permission  of  the  Governor  General  to 
Return  to  New  England  and  pafs'd  his  Note 
to  the  S"":  Cadet  for 

M"  Fornel  has  bought 

William  Rofs  for 

John  Noble 

Marie  Noble 

For  Cloaths  Furnish'd 


/250- 


/260. 

/124. 
150. 
184. 
100. 

/559- 


10" 


—  10 


'Sieur. 


'DuQuesne. 


344 


APPENDIX. 


Ten  Algoiikins  of  the  same  party  has 
boiiglit  iS:  sold  to  the  S':  Aniiot 
Mathew  Noble  for 
For  Cloaths  I'urnish'd 


130. 


•5" 


;^2'6—  15 
One  named  Solomon  Wiiitney'  made 
his  Kfi.ape  from  amongst  the  Indians  to 
whom  the  Oovernor  (reneral  was  not  willing 
to  give  him  back  again,  he  died  at  the  Hos- 
pital 18th  Nov'"  1750. 

Seth  Webb         |  ■   ..  >^.  1- 

,         1    vT   1  1      t   JH't;    at    St  l'rani;ois 

Joseph  Noble    )  "^     ' 

Frances  Noble      at  Montreal  with 

M""  Strange- 

Bought  for  ;^300- 

IJenj  Noble  is  at  La  I'rairie 

with  l)u  May  liought  ;^2oo. 

Abigail  Noble        at  Becancourt. 
Timothy  Whitney^ Bought  and  Paid  X3'5- 

This  Account  taken  from  Capt.  Stev- 
ens's List  Feb>'  i,  1752     l"  J.  Wheelwright."' 

The  embassy  of  Stevens  and  Wheelwright  ends  with  the 
following  letter'"  from  the  Governor  of  Canada  of  the  same 
date  as  their  Proces-Verbal.     It  is  addressed  to 

"M^S.  Phips 

L"'  (iouverneur  et  Com'":  en  chef  a  Baston." 

'WhUten  or  VVhidden. 

«St.  Ange. 

^This  is  Timothy  Whitton  [see  ««/<■]  bought  and  brought  home  by  Cap'. 
Jitevens. 

■"The  narratives  of  the  captives  mentioned  in  the  above  documents  are  in 
preparation  by  the  author,  being  too  long  and  to<;  interesting  to  be  summarized 
here. 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  5,  pp.  548.553. 


AIM'KNDIX. 


345 


••Montreal  lu  25.  Juillct.  1752. 

Monsieur 

Km  (iiialili'  ilc  (.'ommandaiil  1  )u  ('aiiacla  par  la 
niorl  iW  \V  l.c  Mar(iiiis  \h-  l-a  joiuiuiere  j'ay  I'liomicur  de  ropondre 
a  la  I.fUrc  ([iic  votrc  Excellence  a  ecrite  a  ce  (ItMKiral  le   14  Avril 

dernier 

Les  ordres  respectifs  qui  ont  etc  donnes  par  I,es  Roys  He  France 
et  De  Ladrande  l^reta^nic,  pour  l'Kchanjj:e  niutuel  des  Prisonniers, 
recut  son  Kxeculion  des  I'annee  1750,  ct  Mr  Stouder'  votre  Depute  du 
(louvernenient  De  New  York  raniena  tons  les  prisonniers  Anglois  qui 
etoicnt  depuis  la  (Uierre  dans  ce  (Vouvernement,  ce  dont  feu  De  la 
Jonquiere  rendit  conipte  a  la  Com  De  france 

quoy  que  ces  Echanges  tuirent  entierement  termines,  et  que  le  dit 
S'  Stouder  en  eut,  donne  sa  declaration  p:  r  ecrit,  neanmoins  j'ay 
re(;u  avec  plaisir  M''  Phineas  Stevens,  et  Nathaniel  Weerliwright, 
Deputes  De  votre  Excellence  pour  la  delivrance  des  niemes  Prison- 
niers  vous  verres,  [sic]  Monsieur,  par  le  Proces-verbal  cy  joint  qu'ils 
ont  eu  une  entiere  liberte  pour  travailler  a  leur  recherche,  et  que  je 
leur  ai  accorde  mon  authorite,  pour  avoir  ceux  qui  sont  dans  cette 
colonic  au  pouvoir  des  sauvages,  oudes  fran(;ois  qui  les  ont  rachetes, 
ils  en  ranienent  neuf  avec  eux  et  a  I'egard  de  ceux  qui  ont  reste  vous 
verres  \sk\  par  le  dit  Proces-verbal  les  raisons  qui  n  ont  point  per- 
mises  a  M"  vos  Deputes  de  les  ramen^r. 

Ce  qu'il  y  a  de  bien  certain,  c'est  qu'il  ne  reste  par  un  seal  pris- 
onnier  Anglois  fait  par  les  frangois  pendant  la  Guerre,  dans  cette 
Colonic;  ils  furent  tous  renvoyes  en  1750  comme  je  viens  d'avoir 
Phonneur  de  Pobserver  a  votre  Excellence,  ils  fur-.nt  tres  bien  trait- 
tes  pendant  leur  sejour  dans  ce  Pays  et  Tors  [sic]  de  leur  delivrance 
[sic]  on  n'eut  garde  d'exiger  aucune  ran(;on 

Les  Prisonniers  dont  il  s'agit  aujourd'huy,  n'ont  point  ete  pris 
par  les  fran(;ois,  ils  I'ont  ete  depuis  la  guerre  par  les  sauvages,  et  si 
les  instances  De  feu  M-"  Le  Marquis  de  la  Jonquiere  et  les  miennes 
aupres  de  ces  nations  avoient  pu  leur  fairt  4uelque  impression  elles 
ne  se  feroient  point  portees  k  faire  les  dits  Prisoniers  quelques  fondees 
'Lieut.  Benjamin  Stoddard  of  the  New  Yorlc  militia. 


I 


346 


APPENDIX. 


qu'elles  pretendent  avoir  etees  [sic]  ou  du  moins  elles  n'auroient 
point  hesitc  a  les  mettre  en  liberie  mais  vous  saves  \sic]  Monsieiu- 
que  les  sauvages  de  Canada  comnie  ceiix  de  partout  uilleurs  sont 
entierement  libres,  et  qu'ils  ne  sont  point  comptables  de  leurs  ac- 
tions envers  de  qui  que  ce  soit  aussy  ne  m'a  t'il  pas  cte  possible  de 
leur  faire  rendre  les  Anglois  qu'ils  ont  adoptes  dans  leurs  villages  ce 
que  M"  vos  Deputes  ramenent  avec  Eux  auroient  vraisemblablt'iient 
subi  le  meme  sort,  si  desfran(;ois  par  des  sentiments  d'humanite  ne 
les  avoient  retires  des  mains  de  ces  sauvages,  en  leur  payant  une 
ranr;on  que  M"  vos  Deputes  leur  ont  rembourse  avec  justice  et  con- 
noissance  de  cause. 

II  n'y  a  aucune  sauvage  Prisonnier  dans  cette  Colonic,  j'ay  tou- 
jours  ignore  qu'il  y  efit  des  sauvages  sujets  au  Gouvernement  Ang- 
lois; ce  seroit  une  nouveaute  merveilleuse  dont  les  frangois  n'oser- 
oient  jamais  se  flatter,  les  sauvages  de  cette  colonic  ne  reconnois- 
sant  aucune  authorite  [sic]  et  n'ayant  d'autre  Loy  que  leur  passion 
et  leur  caprice. 

Les  Abenakis  de  St  Frani;ois  ont  paries  a  M""  Stevens'  votre  dep- 
ute de  fa(;on  a  ne  laisser  aucun  doCite  a  cet  egard,  je  n'ai  eu  aucune 
part  a  leurs  paroles,  j'en  ay  seulement  et<^  temoin  et  j'ay  bien  voulu, 
pour  faire  plaisir  a  M"  vos  Deputes,  faire  transcrire  ces  paroles,  et 
leur  en  donner  une  copie  que  j'ay  certifiee. 

Si  vous  souhaittes  [sic]  Monsieur,  y  repondre  vous  pourres  [sic] 
me  les  adresser,  et  je  les  ferai  parvenir  aux  dits  Abenakis  Je  su|)- 
plie,  votre  Excellence  d'etre  persuadee  pendant  que  J'auray  le  Com- 
mandemant  de  ce  Pays  et  'lans  tous  autre  tems  [sic]  je  feray  tou- 
jours  mon  possible  pour  t  .rrespondre  a  la  Bonne  intelligence  (jui 
doit  regner  entre  nous,  et  vous  prouver  que  je  suis  avec  un  profond 
respect 

Monsieur, 

Votre  tres  humble  et  tres  obeissant  serviteur, 

Longueuil." 

The  occavsion  of  Major  Wheelwright's  next  embassy  to 
Canada  was  as  follows : 

'See  anie. 


APPENDIX.  347 


During  the  summer  of  1753,  Lazarus  Noble  and  Benjamin 
Mitchell  had  been  sent  to  Canada  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Phips,  then 
acting  as  governor  of  Massachusetts,  with  a  passport  and  of- 
ficial letters  demanding  the  release  of  their  children,  who 
with  others  had  been  captured  at  Swan  Island.  This  mis- 
sion had  been  futile,  and  Noble  and  Mitchell  had  been  badly 
treated  in  Canada. 

Indignant  at  the  treatment  of  its  envoys,  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  upon  the  return  of  Governor  Shir- 
ley from  England,  desired  him  to  demand  restitution  of  all 
the  captives  in  Canada.  The  story  is  thus  told  in  the  rec- 
ords : 

At  a  Council  held  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston  upon  Tues- 
day, Oct.  .?3,  1753.  Present  His  Excellency  William  Shirley,  Elsq. 
Gov.  His  Excellency  laid  Before  the  Board  the  Draught  of  a  Let- 
ter he  proposed  to  send  to  the  Governour  of  Canada  agreeable  to 
the  .Desin;  of  the  General  Assembly  ti  demand  the  Restitution  of 
the  Captives  in  his  Government — Which  being  read  and  considered 
was  approved  of.' 

At  a  Council  held  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston  upon  Wednes- 
day, October  31,  T753 

His  Excellency  asked  the  advice  of  the  Council  respecting  the 
manner  of  Sending  his  Letter  to  the  Governour  of  Canada  for  de- 
manding the  Restitution  of  the  English  captives — Which  Matter  be- 
ing fully  considered  it  was  Advised  that  His  Excellency  send  the 
said  Letter  by  some  suitable  Person  to  be  by  him  Commifsionated 
to  make  the  Demand  of  the  said  Captives — and  His  Excellency  hav- 
ing accordingly  appointed  M""  Nathaniel  Wheelwright  for  that  Ser- 
vice: Advised  and  Consented  that  a  Warrant  be  made  out  to  the 
Treasurer  to  advance  &  Pay  unto  the  said  Nathaniel  Wheelwright 
the  sum  ot  Ninety  Pounds  towards  his  Charges  in  his  proposed 
journey  to  Canada,  he  to  be  accountable  for  the  same; 
and  it  was  further  Advised  and  Consented  that  a  Warrant  be  made 
out  to  the  Treasurer  to  pay    unto    M""    Nathaniel    Wheelwright   the 

'Council  Records,  Vol.  12,  1747-1755,  p.  306. 


^i 


"— «'^»«*«»t;A.-ii .-  u«n»,'.,*.4i...,,. 


■  gi  jj^iiTiMMIWMWMWtMtiN- 


34« 


APPENDIX. 


Sum  of  Thirty-four  Pounds  one  shilling  and  eleven  Pence  to  dis- 
charge his  Accompt  of  Expenses  in  his  late  Journey  to  Canada  in 
Company  with  Capt.  Phineas  Stevens  in  the  service  of  this  Govern- 
ment. 

Gov.  vShirley's  letter  to  the  governor  of  Canada,  sent  by 
Nathaniel  Wheelwright,  dated  Boston,  October  22,  1753,'  is 
a  most  interesting  document.  In  it  he  complains  of  the  in- 
sult to  the  ambassadors  as  a  "violation  of  the  Amity  between 
the  two  nations,"  as  "contrary  to  the  Laws  of  Humanity," 
and  "an  Infringement  of  the  Natural  Rights  of  Mankind." 
In  closing  he  says  "I  now  send  Mr.  Nathaniel  Wheel- 
wright   to  Demand  of  you  the  Restitution of  any 

other  English  Captives  belonging  to  thi  j  Government  w'  *  'i 
may  be  found  in  the  hands  of  the  French  in  Ca  lad-.  d 
desire  that  Your  Exc^':  would  Use  Your  Influence  and  Power 

over  the  Indians  in  whose  hands  the beforementioned 

Children  may  now  be  found  for  the  Immediate  Delivery  of 
them,  likewise  of  any  other  English  of  this  Province  whom 
they  have  made  Captive,  to  the  said  M"'  Nathaniel  Wheel- 
wright. 

I  have  the  Honour  to  be  w"'  very  great  Regard, 
Sir,  Your  Exc^'  most  Humble  and  most 

Obedient  Servant." 

[no  signature.] 

*' November,  1753. 

Instructions  to  Mr.  Nathaniel  Wheelwright  who  is  commissioned 
to  transact  affairs  with  the  gover""  of  Canada  for  the  Release  of  Eng- 
lish captives.'-^  Having  appointed  &  Commissioned  you  to  proceed 
in  the  Service  of  this  Government  to  Canada  for  the  Redemption  of 
English  Captives  belonging  to  this  Province.  You  are  hereby  di- 
rected to  set  out  on  your  journey  as  soon  as  may  be  The  Season  of 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  V,  p.  554. 
'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  74,  p.  135. 


APPENDIX.  349 


the  Year  not  admitting  of   Delay,  Taking  with  you  sach    Persons 
either  English  or  Indians  as  you  shall  find  necessary  for  your  (mid- 
ance  &  safe  Conduct  thither  and  as  soon  as  you  shall  arrive  at  the 
French  Fort  at  Crown   Point   you    must  apply  to  the  Commanding 
officer  there  for  a  safe  &  speedy  Conveyance  to  the  Place  where  the 
Governor  Gen'   shall  then  reside.     Upon  your  Arrival  at  the  Place 
of  the  Governor's  Residence  you  must  immediately  wait  upon  hun 
with  my  Letter  &  after  Delivery  thereof  acquaint  him  that  you  are 
appointed  by  me  to  solicit  the  affairs  contained  in  the  said  Letter, 
(and  if  need  be  to  shew  him  your  Commission  for  that  Purpose)  and 
desire  that  he  would  appoint  you  some  proper  time  to  treat  with 
him  about  these  Matters.     When  the  -'  Governor  shall  admit  you 
to  a  Conference  on  that  subject,  you  must  Signify  to  him  that  you 
do  by  my  Order  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Brit- 
ain demand  that  he  would  cause  to  be  Delivered  up  to  you  the  Eng- 
lish Captives  belonging  to  this   Province  who  are  detained  by  the 
French  in  his  Governm*  contrary  to  the  Peace  and  Amity  now  sub- 
sisting between  Great  Britain  &  France.     If  he  should  consent  to 
the  Delivery  of  them  either  with  or  without  Ransom,  you  must  take 
care  of  their  Speedy  &  safe  conveyance  to  Boston.     If  he  should  in- 
sist upon  the  Ransomes  as  they  were  Purchas'd  out  of  the  Hands  of 
the  Indians   you   must    shew    him  the  Unreasonableness  of  such  a 
Demand  considering  that  their  Fathers'  with  great  Expence  &  Loss 
of  Time  had  made  a  Journey  to  Canada  with  Credentials  from  this 
GovernmS  with  Money  in  their  Hands  for  Procuring  their  Release, 
but  were  violently  driven  out  of  the  Country  before  they  had  Time 
to  effect  it.     If  finally  you  shall  not  be  able  to  get  off  the   Ransom 
Money,  you  must  draw   upon   the  Treasurer  of  this  Province  to  pay 

the  Same. 

You  must  likewise  Request  the  Governor  of  Canada  to  use  his  li.n- 
deavor  to  get  any  other  Captives  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians  to 
be  delivered  up  to  you;  and  you  are  upon  such  Encouragement  to 
treat  with  the  Indians  for  their  Ransom  &  agree  with  them  upon 
any  reasonable  Sum  or  Sums  cSr  draw  upon  the  Treasurer  for  Pay- 
ment thereof  as  aforesaid.  VVh«n  you  shall  have  accomplished  your 
'Lazarus  Noble  and  Benjamin  Mitchell. 


■■■■MHIlHiiill 


■■■1 


»«*»mf*'em^mmm^M':, 


■MniV 


350 


APPENDIX. 


business  as  far  as  you  are  able  &  the  Season  will  admit  of  your 
Travel,  you  must  return  back  to  Boston  first  waiting  on  the  Gov- 
ern'" of  Canada  for  his  answer  to  my  Letter  which  if  he  should  de- 
cline to  do  by  Writing  &  do  it  by  a  Verbal  Message  have  such  Mes- 
sage or  Reply  down  in  Writing  as  Soon  as  you  can  that  there  may 
be  no  Mistake  in  it  thro  Forgetfulness:  You  must  ask  the  Govern" 
Passes  for  your  Safe  Conduct  thro  the  French  Territory. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  Boston  the  Day  of  Novem'""  Anno 

Domini  1753  in  the  27*''  Year  of  his  Majes'^'*  Reign. 

W.  Shirley." 

Letter  from  Major  Nathaniel  Wheelw^right  to  Governor 
Shirley:^ 


"Montreal,  Nov.  30,  1753. 


Sir, 


1  had  the  honour  the  nth  of  November  past  to  acquaint 
your  Excellency  of  my  arrival  at  Albany  which  place  I  left  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  made  all  the  Despatch  I  could  on  my  journey  and 
voyage  to  Canada.  Permit  me  to  advise  Your  Excellency  by  this 
opportunity  that  I  arrived  with  Mr.  Lydius  and  my  servant  yestei*- 
day  noon  at  Montreal  we  were  immediately  conducted  by  the  of- 
ficer who  was  sent  with  us  from  Fort  St.  Frederic,  and  introduced 
by  him  to  the  General,  Monsieur  le  Marquis  Du  Quesne  who  asked 
me  my  business  I  acquainted  him  that  I  was  sent  by  Your  Excel- 
lency to  have  the  Honour  to  deliver  him  a  letter  which  he  received 
and  immediately  retired  into  his  cabinet.  He  soon  returned  saying 
the  letter  was  in  English  and  that  he  would  send  for  some  person  to 
translate  it.  Then  very  genteelly  told  me  as  1  was  not  a  stranger  I 
might  go  and  repose  myself  and  procure  Lodgings  where  I  pleased. 
After  dinner  he  sent  an  officer,  Monsieur  St.  Luc  la  Corne,  who  is 
my  particular  friend,  and  much  in  favor  with  the  Greneral,  this  gen- 
tleman surprised  me  with  a  message  from  his  Excellency,  that  he 
had  been  informed  that  the  last  time  1  came  into  the  country,  1  had 
with  me  an  Engineer  who  passed  for  my  Domestick,  and  that  I  had 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  54,  pp.  263-266. 

'Nov.  29,  1753. 


APPENDIX. 


351 


With  his  assistance  taken  a  plan  of  this  City,  Quebec  and  the  River 
1  assured  the  Gentleman  it  was  false,  and  that  some  lU-m.nded  busy 
person  must  have  raised  the  report,   to   prevent  my  havuig  an  op- 
portunity to  execute  the  Commifsion  I  had  the   Honour  to  receive 
from  your  E...ellency,  and  desired  he  would  afsure  Ine  General  the 
t-uth  of  this      He  did  and  was  kind  enough  to  acquaint  me  in  the 
evening  that  the  General    had    your  Excellency's  letter  translated, 
and  would  see  me  in  the  morning,  when  he  sent  for  me,  as  s()on  as 
i  paid  my  respects  to  him,  he  desired  me  to  withdraw  with  him  in- 
to  his  cabinet  where  1  had  the  Honour  to  converse  with  h.m  more 
than  an  hour  without  Interruption.     He  very  genteelly  told  me  he 
was  charmed   to  have   an  Opportunity    of  a  Correspondence  with 
vour  Excellency  and  that  he  would  answer  your  Exce  lency  s  letter 
very  particularly:  he  was  surprised  at  your  Excellency's  mentioning 
his   not   answering  Mr.  Phipps  his  letter  which  he  assured  me  he 
never  received.     He  then  said  he  had    been    informed  tha   I  came 
into  the  Country  the  last  time  with  some  other  design  than  for  pris- 
oners, but  he  was  now  persuaded  to  the  contrary  and  did  me  the 
Honour  to  say  1  might  stay  a  convenient  time  to  accomp.'^h  my  af- 
fairs that  1  should  be  at  Liberty,  and  should  want  no  assistance  he 
could  give   me;  that  I  should    go   when  it  was   agreeable  to  me  to 
three  Rivers,  St.  Francis  &  Becancourt  with  an  Interpreter  to  en- 
deavour to  get  those  captives.^     He   also   gave   orders  to  Monsieur 
S        uc  to  go  with  me  to  Monsieur  DePain,^  and  acquaint  him  that 
,t  was  his  orders  that  I  should  have  liberty  to  see  and  converse  with 
the  English  boy,  Mitchell's  son  at  all  times  and  as  often  as  I  pleased 
I  saw  tL  Boy  but  had  not  time  to  say  much  to  him.     Permit  me  to 
assure  your  Excellency  that  I  shall  omit  no  opportunity  to  endeav- 
our to  reconcile   him  to  return  to   his    Parents.     M^   Noble  s   child 
which  Monsieur  St.  Ange  Charly  has  the  care  of,  and  which  he  as- 
Tured  me  with  great  grief   the    last   time  I  was  in  the    -uim^jas 
dead   is  now  at  three  Rivers  at  the    Convent.     I  hope  your  Excel- 
lenc;  will  be  satisfied  with    my   Conduct   and    permit  me  to  ass.ir 
you  that  I  shall    be   very   circumspect  in  my   behaviour,  and    shall 


'From  Swan  Island. 


••'See  Proc6s-Verbal. 


K^'mmiTm 


352  APPENDIX. 


piinctiially  observe  your  Excellency's  Instructions:  Should  your 
Excellency  Iwive  any  further  commands  during  my  stay  in  Canada 
and  should  send  your  letters  to  Col.  Lydius  at  Albany  he  may 
have  an  oppertunity  in  the  winter'  of  c(jnveyingyour  Letters  to  this 
Place,  'i'he  lir;los''  letter  1  had  the  Honour  to  receive  from  the 
(ieneral  in  answer  to  that  1  had  the  Honour  to  receive  of  Vour  Ex- 
cellency and  Delivered  Him.  Your  Excellency  will  1  hope  Forgive 
the  Liberty  I  take  to  inclose  a  letter  for  my  (iood   Father.-' 

Your  Excellency  will  excuse  my  giving  you  a  particular  account 
of  the  Country.  They  have  had  a  plentiful  summer  and  a  very  line 
Harvest  in  this  part  of  the  Country.  Permit  me  that  1  have  the 
Honour  to    be  with    the   utmost    Respect   Your   F^xcellency's    most 

Obedient  and  most  Humble  Servant 

Nat:  Wheelwright." 

Letter  from  M.  DuOtiesne,  Governor  General  of  Canada 
to  Governor  Shirley  of  Massachusetts  enclosed  in  that  of 
Major  Wheelwright  :■' 

"Mountroyal  Dec"'  i"^:  1753 
S"":  I  have  had  the  Honour  of  a  Letter  from  your  Excellency 
dated  the  22''  of  Oct'':  last  Jn  which  J  was  surpriz'd  to  find  a  cir- 
cumstantial Proof  of  my  Being  honour'd  with  a  Letter  from  M' : 
Phips  On  Occasion  of  a  Journey  undertaken  to  this  Place  by  Ben- 
jamin Mitchel  &  Lazarus  Noble  to  recover  their  Children. 

Tho  J  have  not  the  Honour  to  be  known  to  your  Excellency  J 
flatter  mySelf  you  will  readily  believe  this  Letter  could  never  have 
reach'd  me,  since  J  had  not  answer  m'':  Phipp's  Civility,  who  merits 
all  Respect  as  well  on  his  own  Account,  as  of  the  Post  he  sustain'd, 
and  it  would  be  a  heinous  piece  of  Jncivility  of  which  a  man  of  Rank 
cannot  be  thought  capable. 

With  regard  to  the  ill  succefs  the  above  mentioned  Persons  met 
with,  your  Excellency  will  give  me  leave    to   observe,  that  if  J  sent 

'Proof  that  Major  Wheelwright  remained  in  Canada  during  the  whole  or  a 
part  of  the  winter  of  1753-4. 

'John  Wheelwright  of  Boston,  member  of  the  Governor's  Council. 
^Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  V,  p.  558. 


APPENDIX. 


353 


them  away  sooner  than  J  might  have  design'd,  they  must  look  upon 
t  a  wholly  occasioned  by  the  Interpreter,  whom  they  --l  ^hos..- 
who  was  a  Person  that  Returned  here  of  a  very  suspected  Charact  r 
and  who  besides  began  to  behave  in  so  n.so  ent  a  manner  that  J 
determined  to  cause  him  to  depart  immediately,  rather  than  to  be 

fnrc'd  to  out  him  into  Prison. 

D„t  to  convince  your  Excellency  how  sensibly  J  was  toucl,  d  w,th 

the  lively  Sorrow  these  Fathers  felt  at  returning  home  w.thout  car- 
y  ngtl  eir  Children  with  them.  I  sent  for  the  Child  that  .s  w,th 
,ne  Desnin  and  before  all  the  Officers  of  this  Government  reproached 

hi^  ^th  his  bad  temper  in  not  being  willing  to  f.,llow  h,s  tather 
He  tlld  me  for  answer,  bursting  into  tears,  that  absolutely  he  would 

"ts'itTstvidJirthey  are  Slaves  fairly  sold  J  did  not  think  proper 
toC,b  igl  tteir  masters  to  give  them  up,  which  would  have  been 
done  without  any  Difficulty,  if  they  had  been  I'r.soners  of  war 

Your  Excellency  will  now  be  Sensible  of  what  Jn,portance  us  on 
such  an  Occasion  to  make  choice  of  such  a  Person  as  Mr  Wheel 
vr'ght  for  Negotiatour.  Since  he  will  have  the  Honour  to  Jnform 
vo  'that  Is  He  was  the  Bearer  of  your  Excellency's  Letter  J  gave 
him  a  very  Suitable  Reception  &  promis'd  him  Protect.on  m  every- 
thinff  his  Commifsion  related  to.  .  •       j  ^f 

i  depend  up.n,    Your   Excellency's  being  perfectly  convinced  of 
m      ^r^estnefs  in  concurring  to  maintain  the  ''r-'^s  .P  "^a    -  ; 
sists  between  the  two  Crowns,  when  you  are  Inform  d  that   a   youi 
Jn    ance  J  have  interposed  my  authority  to  cause  the  two  Children 
IZ  are  in  the  hands  of  y"  French  to  be  re^'or'd  and    ave  gwe^M 
Wheelwright  an  Jnterpreter  to  signify  to  the  '^""-'f"'  ^    ';"'; 
cois  &  Becancourt,  that  they  cannot  do  me  so  great  a  1  leasure  as 
bv  releasing  tl«  three  other  Children  that  are  wTth  them. 

'Your  Excellency  will  have  the  Goodnefs  to  look  upon  ,t  m  th.s 
Case  as  an  unavailing  thing  to  lay  my  Commands  on  the  Jnd.ans 
and  Ihat  it  is  to  be  done  only  by  Treaty,  which  can  be  Concluded 
by  nothing  but  a  Ransom  to  influence  them  because  they  are  ex- 
■This  was  Anthony  V.n  Schaack  of  N.  Y.  H.  had  been  before  imprisoned 
in  Canada. 


354 


AIM'KNDIX. 


trciiicly  attached  to  their  Shives;  'I'his  1  leave;  to  tlu-  I'riKlcnce  with 
wliich  1  think  m''  Wiieelwrijjht  capai)le  of  coiukictinjj  tV  J  very  Read- 
ily jfive  him  all  the  assistance  in  my  I'ower. 

J  am  very  far  from  pretcndin;^  to  Deprive  the  (Children  of  your 
ICxcellency's  Nation,  which  were  taken  {lurin)f  a  jirofonnd  Peace,  of 
their  l.i!)erty  and  Kelij^ion,  when  they  are  Ha[)py  enoiijjfh  to  have 
fallc!ii  Into  the  Hanils  of  the  Krench,  over  whom  1  have  an  Absolute 
I'ower,  hut  J  repeat  it  to  your  Ivxcellency,  that  J  cannot  Answer 
for  the  Jnclinations  of  the  Jndians  in  this  C!ase,  for  there  is  nolliin;^ 
so  difficult  as  to  j^et  their  Slaves  from  them,  espec  iaily  when  they 
have  distributed  them  among  their  Wigwams  to  make  up  for  their 
Dead  J  hasten  to  inform  your  ICxcellency  that  J  have  the  honour  to 
afsure  you,  that  in  whatever  depends  immediately  upon  me,  you 
will  receive  intire  Satisfac:tion,  as  no  one  is  more  desirous  than  J 
am  (jf  corresponding  with  you  as  freepiently  as  J  do  with  M'  Hop- 
son:  J  assure  you  every  Thing  ingages  me  to  it:  Your  Excellency's 
Reputation  which  '.s  kntjwn  to  me:  your  distinguished  Merit  in  all 
Respects,  and  the  Desire  J  have  to  maintain  ik  augment  the  good 
Understanding  and  harmonic  which  ought  to  subsist  between  the 
respective  (lovernours  of  the  two  I'rovinces  in  Amity,  must  be  t(; 
you  a  sure  I'ledge  that  J  shall  keep  these  objects  in  view  with  as 
much  Alacrity  (S:  lOarnestnefs  as  J  am  desirous  of  proving  personal- 
ly the  infinite  Respect  with  which  J  have  the  Honour  to  be 

Your  Excellency's 

most  humble  &  most 

obedient  Servant 

Du  Quesne. 

J  take  the  I-iberty  to  pray  your  Ivxcellency  the  favour  with  your 
leave  the  Packett  directed  by  me  to  the  Duke  de  Mirepoix  Embas- 
sadour  to  his  Jiritannic  Majesty." 

That  Mr.  Wheelwright's  despatches  v^ere  duly  received  in 
Boston,  appears  by  the  following :' 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  6,  p.  155. 


AIM'KNDIX. 


355 


..In  the  House  of   Kcprcscntativ.s  Jan.   S.  ■  754.  Il  whs  ()nlcr.,l 

that    Mr.   S,H,-ak.r,  C.l.    l'a.-lrid,a-   .V    M  r  I.yma,,  w.U.   s.uh  as   ih. 

U     ,  ,„  .,  shall  join  be  a  C.nnuiUec  lo  lake  uud.r    ..nsuleraUo- 

elers  „f  the  (Lernor  of  Canada  .V  M'  Nalhan.el  Uh.elwn.hl 

h:^llU:n.ylhe<.m.nn.rconununi.atedt..   the    Cunrt  Uus 

Day '  .V  Report  wluU  it  may  he  pn-i-r  for  the  Court  to  d... 
•"  Sent  up  for  Coneurrenee. 

T.  lluhl)ar(l,  Speak^" 

"Wednesday,  January  9.   1754. 

Present  in  C!ouiu;il ,  ,       . 

•nJsc.,rmryl.y()nlcr.,f   his    Kx.xllcM.y    laid    l.cf-c  .h.    tw., 

,^  ,1  ,    .ctur  IMS  Hxccllcn.y  1h»I  rcceivc.l  fn.n,  th«  (;„v.r„.,r  „f 

■      u;>,;,Kl  a„<,thcr  fr„n,  M'  N.tlu.nicl  Wheelwright  rcs„ceC,„K'  the 

;C    h  Captwcs  i„  the  hands  of  the  ITench  &  LhI--  "--        , 

„  the  House  o(  Representatives  Ordered  that  M'  Speaker,    ,.>!. 

P-irici.e  <S.  Mr  l.y.nan  with  sueh  as  the  ll.M> H-ard  sludl  ,.„,  he  a 

■Int"  to  take  under  Cunsiderati,,,,    the   Letters  of    the  (.overno 
„;"",ada\  M- Wheelwright  to  His  K.celleney  the  (governor  and 

Tarnzr;is::raXrr;^- ---■'- 

ter  Esq"  are  joined  in  the  affair.  ' 

While  the  Coverner  and  Council  it.  B.«toti  were  eonsi.ler- 
i„r.^  clespatehe.  reeeived  trotn  Wheelwn.h  ,  he  wa  a- 
!  erly  prosectlting  his  search  for  the  captives  in  Canada.  Hav. 
•„K  g<  t  posscssi,™  of  Elinor  Noble  and  others,  h>^  1"^  '^em 
at  Three  Rivers  and  proceeded  on  his  memorable  visit  to 
hU  aunt  Esther  at  the  Ursuline  convent  in  yuebee. 

I  tod  no  mention  in  our  Archives  of  his  return  to  Boston, 
or  onils  employment  later  in  the  service  of  the  government. 
I  ther    ore  conclude  that  Nathaniel  Wheelwright  went  m. 
y  tw    e  to  Canada;  his  second  -nbassy  e..tcnduig  f  r,n.   he 

early  autumn  of  ,793,  into  the  lat'^JP""^  "^^^'^t  ™^t 
misled  me  at  first  into  the  .statement  [sec  aulc,\  that  he  went 

■Council  Records,  Vol.  .o.     Al»  i.  Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  6. 


356  APPENDL'v. 


three  times  as  ambassador  to  Canada.     Proof  of  this   con- 
clusion seems  to  me  to  be  also  given  as  follows  : 

"In  the  House  ot  Representat'ves,  Dec.  27,  1754. 
Inasmuch  as  Sundry  persons  belonging  to  this  Province,  some  of 
whom  were  Soldiers  &  taken  from  the  fort  on  Kennebec  River  are 
now  in  Captivity  in  Canada — and  as  this  Court  have  been  Inf'jrined 
that  there  are  also  divers  Persons  in  Captivity  at  Canada  belonging 
to  the  Government  of  New  Hampshire.  Therefore,  voted  that  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  write  to  the  Governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire &  Inform  him  that  this  Court  proposes  to  employ  Capt.  Phine- 
has  Stevens  of  N"  4,  to  go  to  Canada  to  Redeem  the  captives  of 
Massachusetts  provided  that  New  Hampshire  joins  and  pays  its  pro- 
portion of  the  expence  of  the  Same." 

A  letter  of  the  .same  date  as  the  above  vote  was  at  once 
sent  by  Governor  Shirley  of  Ma.ssachusetts  to  Governor  Ben- 
ning  Wentworth  of  N.  H.'  asking  his  co-operation  in  .sending 
Phineas  Stevens  of  N.  H.  on  this  joint  embas.sy,  the  expcn.ses 
of  the  journey  to  be  proportionately  paid  by  both  govern- 
ments.   Governor  Wentworth  replies : 

"Portsmouth,  Jan.  4,  1755. 
Sir,  Haveing  with  great  difficulty  at  last  prevailed  with  the  As- 
sembly to  unite  with  your  Excy"  Government  in  Employing  Cap. 
Stevens  of  Charlestown  to  proceed  to  Canada  in  order  to  redeem 
the  Captives  belonging  to  this  Government  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
French  &  Inds.  I  must  Desire  your  favour  in  Despatching  him  here 
as  soon  as  possible,  the  Sec.  having  wrote  b'm  by  my  order  to  that 
purpose,  'i'he  Su  "  already  voted  is  ^150.  Stirling,  but  1  am  hop- 
ing to  get  it  En'  .,ed  by  Capt.  Stevens  arrival.  1  am  with  great 
Esteem 

S""  Your  Excellency"  most  Obedient 
humble  Servant, 

B.  Wentworth"2 


'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  5,  p.  196. 
■■•Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  5,  p.  199. 


AIM'KNDIX. 


357 


While  this  embassy  is  pending  one  Johnson  arrives  in  Bos- 
ton, empowered  by  the  government  of  New  llanipshire  to  go 
to  Canada  for  the  redemption  of  eaptives  and  desires  to  be 
employed  by  Massachusetts  for  the  same  purpcxse.  Ihere 
arr  ving  "Just  upon  his  Departure  some  Intelhgenee  that 
made  it  appear  not  convenient  that  he  should  proceed  at  his 
time  "  he  was  called  back  by  Shirley  and  detained  in  Boston. 

"Feb.  8,  .755-' 
In  the  House  of  Representatives:  Ordered  that  Col  Hale,  Mr. 
Welles  .S:  Mr.  Quincy  with  such  as  the  Hon-  Board  shall  join,  be 
Icomntlttee  to  Consider  of  son.e  Proper  Method  for  the  Redemp- 
tion of  the  C:aptives  now  in  Canada,  belonging  to  this  I'rov.nce  In 
Council  Read  &  Concurred  and  Samuell  Watts  &  1  homas  Hutchuv 
son  Kstr  are  joined  in  the  affair." 

-At  a  Council  held  Tuesday,  Feb.  it,  iTSS-'^     1"  <-'>""^'l  ^^^^^^^  ^ 
first  cS:  second  time  ^r  passed  a  Concurre-.ce. 

A  Report  referring  to  the  Redemptirn  of  Captives  in  Canada  Pur- 
suant  to  the  above    Directions   the  Committee  have  attended  the 
Service  assigned  them;  and  are  humbly  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  not 
Convenient  at  this  time  for  the  Court  to  Employ  any  Person  in  1  ur- 
chasing   Captives  belonging  to  this  Province;  now  .n  Canada.     It 
appearing  to  the  Committee  that  the  Indians  have  by  Means  of  such 
Purchases  been  encouraged  to  continue  their  Depredations  upon  our 
Frontiers,  and  the  Committee  are   further  of   the  opinion  that  no 
Effectual  way  can  be  Projected  to  put  an  End  to  their    Depreda- 
tions but  by  Revenging  the  Injury  upon  the  Indians  themse  ves  or 
upon  those  by  whom  they  were  imployed.     Which  is  Humbly  sub- 

"""^^-  Per  Samuel  Watts  per  Order. 

In  Council  read  and  Ordered  that  the  Report  be  accepted." 
The  last  mention  of  Wheelwright's  services  as  ambas.sador 

is  the  following  :  ^ 

'General  Court  Records,  Vol.  20,  p.357. 
'General  Court  Records,  Vol  20. 
^iCouncil  Records,  I747-I755- 


:ZZZT. 


358 


AI'I'KNDIX. 


"Att  a  C!()iiiu;il  bv.U\  .it  the  Council  ('liaml)cr  in  Hostoii  upon 
Thursday,  the  27  of  I'cbruary  1755: 

Advised  (\:  ('ciiseiited  that  a  warrant  be  made  out  to  the  'IVeasurer 
to  pay  unto  thj  Persons  herein  after  inentioneil  tiie  following;  sums 
to  discharge  the  Accounts  by  them  respectively  exliibited  viz: 

To  Ml.  Nathaniel  Wheelwright  the  Sum  of  'I'hree  Hundred  tS; 
Seventy  three  rcuuuls  »&  Six  pence,  being  the  Hallance  of  his  Ac- 
compt  of  Charges  in  his  late  Negotiations  in  Canada  for  the  Redeem- 
ing of  Captives." 

Later,  OovcriK^r  Shirley  writes  to  explain  to  Governor 
Wentworth,  his  action  in  not  permitting  Johnson  to  proceed 
to  Canada.' 


c. 


EUNICE    WILLIAMS. 


THE  SIEURS  J)E  I,A  PERI^KE  AND  DUPIUS,  AMHASSADORS  FROM  CANADA  lO  I.KAKN  THF, 
CONOniON  OKTUINCS  IN  ORAN(;K"PkKTKXTIN(;  AN  KXCHANOe"  OK  UARENT  STAATS, 
NEPHEW  UK  PEPER  SCHUYLER  KOR  1  ATHER  MAREL'II,,  THREE  OTHER  DUTCH.MEN 
FOR  THREE  KRENCHMEN,  AND  JOHN  AR.MKS  OK  UEERKIEI.U  ON  PAROLE  KOR  EN- 
SIGN  DE  VERCllfeRES  ("liOVENEV.") 

By  a  letter  from  the  Intendant,  M,  de  Ramezay  to  the 
Marquis  de  Vaudrenil  written  at  Montreal  the  19th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1 709,2  we  learn  that  Lieut.  Barent  Staats,  the  husband  of 
Peter  Schuyler's  niece,  was  captured  Oct.  12,  1709,  near  Fort 
Nicholson  and  carried  to  Canada,  arriving  in  Montreal, 
Oct.  1 8th. 

'Letter   from    Governor   Shirley  to  Governor    Benninj";    Wentworth,  Mass. 
Archives,  Vol.  5. 

*N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  Vol.  IX,  p.  838. 


AI'I'KNDIX.  359 


May  ist,  1710,  M.  dc  Vaiulrciiil  writes  to  M.  do  Pontchar- 
train  :' 

"I'hc;  Oniiontaj^iic'S refjuest  ine  not  to  harm  Peter,  that  is 

ihc  jj(»vi:rnii:ciit  (if  Oraii^fc,  protcsliti;^  thai  I'ctcr  ami  the  Dutch 
had  been  forced  hy  tlie  ICiiglisli  to  take  up  arms  against  us.  As 
these  Jinhans  requesteil  nie,  My  Lord,  to  i)e  pleased  to  permit  them 
to  untie  the  cords  of  J'eter's  nephews— that  i^.  of  the  Dutch  prison- 
ers— wh(jni  1  held  in  my  hands,  i  embraceil  that  opportunity  to 
learn  distinctly  the  condition  of  thinj^s  in  the  ^foverninent  of  Orange, 
and  pretexting  an  exchange  with  I'eler  Schuyler,  of  his  nephew  for 
I'ather  de  Mareuil,  the  Jesuit  missionary  of  Onontague,  and  of  three 
other  Dutchmen  for  three  Frenchmen,  and  ')(  :m  officer  belonging 
to  the  lioston  government  whom  1  have  here''  for  Ensign  de  Ver- 
cheres,''  1  sent  Sieurs  de  la  I'eriere  ami  Du|niis  and  six  other  French- 
men and   an    Indian    to   Orange," 1   go  up    to    iMontreal,  My 

Lord to  be  in  a  better  position  for  learning  what  is  transi)ir- 

ing  within  the  govermnent  of  Orange  and  among  the  Iroquois, 
either  by  the  return  of  Mess''"  de  la  J'eriere  and  Dupuis  or  fr<Mn  let- 
ters they  will  find  an  opportunity  to  write  me." 

De  Vatidreuil's  despatches  to  the  Minister,  in  June,  1710, 
and  his  letter  of  CJet.  3  r  of  the  same  year  give  us  the  follow- 
ing : 

"Sieurs  de  la  Periere  and  Dupuis  having  left  Orange  so  as  to  ar- 
rive at  Montreal  at  the  opening  of  the  navigation.  1  found  them 
there  at  my  arrival  together  with  Father   Mareuil,  Jesuit,  whom  the 

'N.  Y.  Col.  Doc.  Vol.  IX.  p.  842. 
'■'John  Arms  of  Deerfield,  Mass. 

■'SciKticiir  de  Vercheres,  officer  of  the  CariKnati  regiment,  had  two  sons 
and  a  daughter,  the  heroine  Madeleine  de  Vercheres.  His  el<lest  son  was 
ki'led  at  Haverhill,  Aug.  29,  1708.  See  Parkman,  Frontenac,  p.  302  and  Half 
Century  of  Conflict  I,  p.  94.  The  younger  son  Beauvenir  de  Verchferes  figures 
in  our  Archives  as  "Boveney,"  and  was  for  several  years  a  captive  in  Boston 
and  Albany.  John  Arms  of  Deerfield  and  Johnson  Harmon  of  York  were  sent 
at  diUferent  times  as  exchange  for  him,  but  he  was  long  held  by  Dudley  for 
Eunice  Williams's  return. 


36o 


APPENDIX. 


English  carried  off  last  year  from  Onnontague,  where  he  was  on  the 

mission.     This  Jesuit  and  these  two  officers informed  me  that 

Boston  was  nut  tlisarming  and  even  was  expecting  a  reinforcement 
from  I'Airope  to  make  an  attack  by  sea  either  on  this  country  or  on 
Acadia." 

The  story  of  "Boveney"  and  John  Arm.s  and  Johnson 
Harmon  is  thus  continued  in  our  Archives: 

"At  a  Council  held  at  the  Council  Chamber,  Boston,  upon  Tuesday 
Ult"  [2S"'J  February,  1709,'  Present  His  Excellency  Joseph  Dudley 
Esq  .  rov.  (Sic,  i\:c.,  iV'C.  His  Excellency  communicated  A  letter 
from  Col.  I'artridge  received  by  an  Express  the  night  past  accom- 
panying letters  to  him  from  the  Commissioners  at  Albany  and  copy 
of  a  letter  from  Mr  Vaudreuil  to  Col.  Peter  Schuyler  sent  by  his 
messengers  from  Mont  Real  now  attend-  at  Albany-  who  brought  in 
with  them  some  Dutch  i)risoners  «S:  one  John  Arnies  of  Deerfield 
upon  their  parole  to  return  back  with  them  in  case  they  could  not 
obtain  their  release  by  exchange  for  French  Prisoners  at  New  Yorke 
and  some  in  the  hands  of  this  Covernment  And  the  heails  of  a  Let- 
ter to  Col.  Partridge  were  agreed  upon  to  be  Signed  b}'  the  Secre- 
tary."'i 

"Letter  to  Col.  Partridge'  relating  to  m''  Vaudrueil'  messeng"  at 
Albaii}', — and  l''rench  Prison'■^ 

Boston  F'ebruary  ult:  [28"']  1709-10. 

His  Excellency  has  this  day  communicated  in  Council  your 
Letters  to  himselfe  accomivinying  those  from  the  Magistrates  of 
Albany  with  the  Copy  of  a  Letter  from  m''  Vaudreuil  directed  to  Col. 
Peter  Schuyler  by  the  hand  of  his  Mef?engers  there  attending  from 
Mont- Real  on  pretent-(.  o  negotiating  an  FLxchange  of  Dutch  Pris- 
oners .iv:  one  Amies  of  Deerfield  broug'nt  thither  with  them,  for  some 

'Council  Records,  Vol.  5,  pp.  igi-192. 
'■'Sieurs  lie  l;i  l'eiierean<l  Diipuis. 
■'See  Secretary  Addington's  letter  anU\ 
■•Mass.   Archives,  Vol.  51,  p.  192. 


APPENDIX.  361 


French  Prisoners  at  New  Yorke  <!v:  Beuvenire  taken  at  Haverhill  and 
I-e-ffever,  two  of  theirs  in  our  hands,  the  latter  proposed  to  be  Ex- 
changed for  Arnies  with  a  great  Demand  upon  him  for  his  redemp- 
tion out  of  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  It's  no  hard  thing  to  penetrate 
into  their  Intreagues,  the  Designe  being  to  conciliate  a  new  friend- 
ship and  neutrality  with  the  Albanians  as  they  have  lately  had;  to 
gain  Intelligence  of  the  motions  and  preparations  of  the  English 
and  leave  this  and  other  Her  Majesty  Colonys  to  take  care  for 
themselves.  Mr  Vaudreuil  takes  no  notice  of  his  Excellency,  neg- 
lects to  write  to  him,  thinking  to  obtain  his  Prisoners  from  hence 
by  the  Interposition  of  the  Genf*  at  Albany;  well  knowing  how 
false  he  has  been  and  Violated  his  promises  made  Once  &  again  to 
return  all  the  English  Prisoners,  and  that  long  since,  upon  which 
all  the  l''rench  Prisoners  on  his  side  were  sent  home  by  way  of  Port- 
Koyal.  Knowing  also  his  Excy"  Resolution  never  to  set  up  an  Al- 
giers trade  to  Purchase  the  Prisoners  out  of  his  hands  and  Direction 
not  to  have  them  sent  to  Albany  but  to  have  them  brought  in  a  Ves- 
sell  by  water  from  Canada  or  down  Kennebec  River  to  Casco  Bay 
or  Piscataqua.  In  which  Resolution  he  continues  and  it  is  agreeable 
to  the  mind  of  the  Council. 

So  that  Amies  must  go  back  with  e  Messengers,  unlefs  he  can 
otlierwise  obtain  his  L.iberty;  you  will  further  Examin  him  particu- 
larly referring  to  the  State  of  Quebeck  and  Mont-Real  how  they 
are  as  to  Provisions  and  Clothing,  what  store-ships  arrived  there  the 
last  Summer  and  other  Sliipping  and  what  are  there  now?  what  new 
Fortification  they  raysed  in  the  Summer  past  and  where 

And  by  the  next  Post  from  Albany  you  must  send  for  Ueuvenire 
from  thence  and  write  to  the  Major  and  Magistrate  to  ailjust  the 
.^ccoiupt  of  the  Demand  for  his  Keeping,  which  as  is  Intimated  is 
very  Extravagant  beyond  what  is  usually  allowed  for  Prisoners  and 
Let  draw  upon  the  Ciovernm^  here  for  payment  and  It  shall  be 
Done.  In  case  the  Hunting  Mohawks  attend  you  Its  thought  ad- 
visable that  Major  Stoddard  joyne  a  Serg*^  t^'  six  Centinels  of  his 
best  Hunters  w"'  them  who  will  take  care  to  observe  them  and  they 
will  be  a  good  out  scout  for  which  you  have  his  Excellency^  Letter 
&  Order  w*^''  this. 


362 


APPENDIX. 


You  may  Adjust  the  Post  as  is  propos''  from  Albany.  If  the  ser- 
vice will  be  as  well  Perform'd  &  the  Charge  of  the  Province  be 
thereby  Eased  but  the  Albanians  must  not  think  to  make  a  Purse 
from  us  and  to  Exact  more  than  it  would  be  done  for  by  our  own 
People  It  being  much  better  that  they  have  y"  Advantage  of  what 
must  be  necessarily  Expended. 
This  by  the  Order  of  his  Exce>  with  the  Advice  of  the  Council  from 
Sr 

Your  very  humble  Servant 

J**  Addington  Secy. 
The  Letter  to  M''  Vaudreuil   must  be  sent  to  Albany  by  y*^  Post 
&  forwarded  from  thence  by  an  Ind   w"'out  Charge  or  otherwise  by 
y''  french  Messengers  there  now  attending." 

"At  a  Council  held  &c.  upon  Monday,  the  6th  of  March,  1709, 
[1709-10J' 

Present  His  Excellency  Joseph  Dudley,  Esq.,  Governor.  &c.,  &c. 

John  Amies  of  Deerfield,  a  prisoner  with  the  French  in  Mount 
Real  &  permitted  to  come  with  the  French  messengers  to  Albany 
upon  his  parole,  attended  bringing  a  letter  from  Col.  Partridge  & 
another  from  Mr.  Williams,  and  gave  some  further  account  of  affairs 
there  and  was  dismissed,  the  Governor  and  Council  not  seeing  rea- 
son to  alter  anything  of  their  direction  to  Col.  Partridge  by  their 
letters  the  last  week."^ 

"Tuesday  30th,  March,  17 10,  His  Excellency  communicated  to 
the  Council  a  letter  from  Col.  Partridge  and  another  from  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, Minister  of  Deerfield,  accompanying  some  letters  from  Al- 
bany referring  to  Uovenee  a  French  Prisoner  of  War  sent  by  His 
Excellency  the  j'ear  past  to  Albany  with  intent  to  be  exchanged 
for  Mr.  Williams'  daughter,  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

As  we  have  seen  by  De  Vaudreuil's  dispatches  to  the 
French  minister,  the  Sieurs  de  la  Periore  and  Diipuis  re- 
turned to  Montreal  before  the  opening  of  navigation;  iinac- 

'Council  Records,  Vol.  5,  pp.  193-194. 

''i.  e.  by  Secretary  Addington's  letter  to  Partridge  of  Feb.  28,  1709-10. 


APl'liNHlX. 


363 


parole. 

.«,       PMriRinr.K'       I'KTITIOS    OK    J""^ 

™» "■— "  ™::-^:;;^.":".^- -----  ^ --"' 

\UM1-S   ON   I'AROl.l'-  AS  KM,IIA.>iw. 

.'Deerfield,  Mayy»27,  1710- 
.  Qir  Thes  Lins  are  to  inform  yourself  of  y''  ac- 
Worthy  &  ^--'•-^^f;^'';  ,  "ti-e  &  expences,  sence  I  Came 
count  of  my  Charges  Both  for  my  I      ^^^^  ^,^  ^^^,^^,  ^,,. 

into  this  Contrey  y-  time    hat  1  spent  ^^^^  ^^^^^^.^^^  ^^^^   ^^ 

tleman  at  Albany  &  m  y'   marching        y  03-00-00 

wekes  whic  at  12  pence  par  day  is  02-06-00 

"eharges  for  my  Diyat  &  Lodging  w^ 

I  my  charge  for  2  horses  jorny  to  Allbanj  „ , -00-00 

It  10  shilens  par  jorney 

h.vh.g  giving  yourself  an  account  only 

t  n  y  time  I  my  diat  &  my  lodging  .j  my 

"orsel  jorney  all  amounts  to  s.  pound^  ^^_^_ 

of  my  Dificult  -rcumsun  e  boU  m  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^   ^^^^ 

prisener  &  str.pt  of  all  "  ^  ^^^^^^^^^^  ^^,,^  ,,y  one  money  having 
magesend  but  was  f-;-^  ^°^^^^  ^  ^^'^  ,  ,f  „,y  oblagasion  that  1  am 
Credit  with  a  gentleman  there  ^r  a  y     ^^^  .^^^^^^^^^  ^^,^  ^^. 

now  under  which  1  -P^^.  f^/,,     ;  j' o  Jelpe  .-  in  so  Dificult  A 

^^r:s::::encyIo.phO^^^^^^ 

Cheife  &c  to  y^-  Honourable  Counsell  .V  Kci 

Corte  assembled  this  31  ^^y  .710.  Derefield  a  pris- 

J  Humbly  Move  in  behalf  o    J^^-/^;'^^;;  ^     ,,  j.^e  was  twelve 

oner  to  the  Frentch  ^^^^^^^^J^  c    me'hither  hath  been  at 
month  &  Carried  to  Canada  &  since  he  ca 

•  Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  7 •.PP'f«"-^3»- 


564 


Al'l'UNDIX. 


great  Charges  at  Albany  as  per  account  annexed  prays  it  may  be  al- 
lowed &  payd  him  out  of  the  treasury  of  this  province  as  alsoe  Such 
other  allowances  for  his  Losses  of  his  tyme  &  Cloathing  his  wounds 
&c  as  this  Corce  may  judge  meete  &  just  &  for  yo''  Excellency  & 
Honors  Shall  ever  Pray  Samll  Partridge  in  behalfe 

of  John  Armes  afores'^ 
III  Council  ist  June  1710.     Read  and  Recommended 
In  House  of  representatives  June  16:  Read  and  Comitted 

"  17  Read  &  In  Answer  to  the 
above  Petition  Resolved  That  the  Sum  of  Six  Pounds  and  Six  Shil- 
lings be  Allowed  &  paid  out  of  the  publick  Treasury  to  the  Hon'"'*' 
Samuel  Partridge  '^sq  for  the  use  of  the  s''  Armes 
Sent  up  for  Concurrence  John  Park  Speaker,  17  June,  1710.  Read 
&  concurred  Js"  Addington  Sec^"' 


PETITION  OF  JOHNSON  HARMON,  OK  YORK,  SKNT  ON  PAROLK  AS  EXCHANGE   KOR  SIEUR 

DE  VERCneRRS.      ["nuVENEY."] 

"To  his  Excellency  Joseph  Dudley  Esq''  Cap"  Gen"  &  Gov""  in 
Chief  of  her  Maj'""*  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  &c  and  The 
Hon*''":  Councill  and  House  of  Representatives  The  Humble  Pe- 
tition of  Johnson  Harman  of  the  Town  of  York  in  the  Province  of 
Main 
Sheweth 

That  Yo'  Petitioner  being  about  his  Lawfull  Occations  at 
winter  Harbour  on  the  8"'  day  of  October  last,  was  taken  captive  by 
a  party  of  Penobscot  &  Kennebeck  Indians  &  by  them  Carried  to 
Quebecq  in  Canada,  where  he  continued  a  Prisoner  untill  the  22nd 
day  of  may  following.  Having  Borrowed  some  money  of  Maj  Lev- 
ingston  &  other  friends,  by  it  prevailed  on  Maj  Parotte  to  come 
heme  to  see  his  family  &  settle  his  affairs.  Providence  favouring  this 
good  humour  of  Mons""  l)e  Vaudrieull,  and  his  Excellency's  Good- 
nefs  to  Return  A  Prisoner  from  here  in  his  Room,  (which  I''avour  is 
for  Ever  to  be  Acknowledged)     But  now  he  is  Commanded  away  in 


'Mass.   Archives,  Vol.  71,   pp.  630-631.     Also  Gen.   Court   Records  Vol.  9, 


p.  39- 


APPb^NDlX. 


365 


.He  Presein  Kxpe.ition  (wherein  he  ho,..  &  »-^-.;;;  ;';;^^2?  ^'.^i 
„.U  service)  Hut  hi.  ^^'^^^:Z:^^^,Z ^l^^  ^^ '-^^'^ 

Therefore  he  humbly  prays  th.s  Hon         -  ^""^'^'y;  ^^^^^,„. 

^^-^^  ^rrviiw  a^r:.  -t  o^::^ora^^     support . 

r^n:  fit  h;:.:r oLt  t!:.^^o.  ...  E.peaiUon  .  .  yo^  W.. 
dom  Shall  seem  meet  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  .^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^,„j  ^^^^^ 

ever  pray  &c  Johnson  Harmon" 

July  24^'>  17 1 1  In  the  House  of  Representatives 

"In  answer  to  this  petition 
Voted  that  Twenty  Pounds  be  paid  the  petition'  out  of  the  provu.cc 

'^^'""^'"'■y  1  John  Burrill  Speaker" 

Sent  up  for  Concurrence^  J 

July  24.  171 1. 

<aJnon  Reading  the   Petition   of    Johnson  Harman   of   York   late 
Upon  ^^^'^^f  Consideration  of  the  grea:     'atigue  .V 

Prisoner  of  Q"^\^^^'  ^^^^    f  .  circumftance  of  his  Family  & 

Expence  he  has  been  at  cV  the   pooi  Representatives, 

Affairs  Voted  in  Concurrence  with  the   House  ot        P  ^^ 

,..  .he  sum  oCJwenty      .nds  be  P;^  ^  ^^^  ^,  ,,,,^, 
the   Ireasury  of  this  irovincc. 

While  lohnson  Harmon  of  York,  Me.,  a  captive  in  Cana- 
da  was  a  Cha,„bly  fort  on  his  return  to  New  England  on 
da,  was  at  v.ua        y  f,^  ^'Rovenev  "  he  received  the  fol- 

Vol.  51,  pp.  212-213: 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  71,  P-  8^9- 

•^Court  Records,  1709-171 5-     Vol.  9.  P-  138. 


366 


APPENDIX. 


"To  M'  Johnson  Harmon 


at  Shamblee. 


Sir, 


Since  you  are  gone,  a  Squaw  of  the  nation  of  the  Abn- 
akis  is  come  in  from  Boston.  She  has  a  pass  from  your  Governour, 
She  go's  about  getting  a  little  girl,  daughter  of  M'  John  Williams. 
The  Lord  Marquess  of  Vaudreuil  helps  her  as  he  can.  The  business 
is  very  hard  because  the  girl  belongs  to  Indians  of  another  sort'  and 
the  master  of  the  English  girl  is  now  at  Albany.  You  may  tell  your 
Governour  that  the  squaw  can't  be  at  Boston  at  the  time  appointed 
and  that  she  desires  him  not  to  be  impatient  for  her  return,  and 
meantime  to  take  good  care  of  her  two  papows.  The  same  Lord 
Chief  Governour  of  Canada  has  insured  me  in  case  she  may  not 
prevail  with  the  Mohoggs  for  Eunice  Williams,  he  shall  send  home 
four  English  persons  in  his  power  for  an  exchange  in  the  Room  of 
the  two  Indian  children.  You  see  well.  Sir,  your  Governor  must 
not  disregard  such  a  generous  proffer  as  according  to  his  noble 
birth  and  obliging  genious  ours  makes.  Else  he  would  betray  little 
affection  to  his  own  people.  The  Lord  Marquess  of  Vaudreuil  has 
got  a  letter  for  Madam  Vetch  which  he's  very  glad  to  see  safely 
convey'd  unto  her.  I  pray  Sir  you  with  all  my  heart  to  present  un- 
to her  my  most  humble  respects.  We  have  at  Kebeck  two  vessels 
by  n)eans.  whereof  we  have  had  this  information.  In  Spain  the 
King  and  under  him  the  Duke  of  Vendome  have  upon  the  9  ami  10 
of  December  Last  fought  a  great  battle  wherein  an  army  of  25,000 
men  has  been  routed,  (ieneral  Stanhope  ami  5,000  others  taken 
prisoners  at  Brihuega.  General  Staremburg  with  4,000  men  only 
made  their  escape  and  retired  to  Barcelona  whither  before  him  the 
Archduke  of  Austria  repaired.  The  Duke  of  Vendome  was  in  March 
to  besiege  that  city.  80  Ships  with  6,000  men  sent  from  Eng- 
land and  Holland  to  relieve  it  have  all  of  them  been  destroyed  by  a 
storm.  The  King  of  Sweeden  with  200,000  Tartars  invade  Moscovy 
and  Poland.  At  his  approach  the  Northern  cS:  German  crowns  with- 
draw their  troops  from  the  Netherlands.  The  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land consisting  of  Presbyterians  has  been   dissolved,  and  another 

'The  Indians  of  Saint-Louis  or  Caughnavvaga  were  Mohawks  of  ihe  Iroquois 
nation. 


AITENDIX. 


367 


::;;:;:^h:;:^i.  ™embe.  are  Epi.copa,ian  ^:,^ti:^ 

''"'  ,  '"  1.V,  ce  afe  y  [///4*'l  'heiv  King  to,-  the  ,ro.ecu- 
IKople  of  '''""'',f,';jj  '„,„„e„  has  been  taken  away  an  J  rent 
ti„n  of  the  war.      1  he  p.ipet   n™'=y  „^t,  „(   Noailles 

assignee!  for  the  ready  P^'"""="  '  !^2„f  Vendome  f,.r  the  siege 
„,,o  has  taken  Girona  ,s  to  1"^"  !^^  '^'^^^  ..^ ,  ^  ;'H„,u„„,ers  having 
,1  liarcelona  with  25,000  men.      1  "<=  r.nghsl  .  ^^^^^.^ 

sent  to  the  Most  Christ.an  ^^^^  ^^  ^X^  ,er  the  coLtand 
yield  to  their  propo-fon.     '^  Wench    qu  .^^  ^^^^  ^.^^^  ^^ 

of  Mr  DuClerc  had  landed  boo  men  at   Ki  p„rt„g„ese  hav- 

the  Ama.on  and  had  taken  the  town.        "        °°°  «,,^  ,„( 

i„gfai„up„,,  *-^':rn;:\t™/:::.t'-  there  is  in  old 
are  come  safe.      Iheie   is  aisu  c      ^     ^  exuedition  against 

Knghtnd  a  navy  of  3,000  '-"  "'  -^;    '  j"   ;  ^"Ln  under^Mar-. 
New  I'rance.     Our  r.rray  m  1  landc,         o      ,0,  ^,^_^^ 

»ha.  Vi.lars.     Some  say  the  Ktr,g  »      "-"J,,  ,  ,    „„^„  ,,  ,,  i„fer- 
„f  the  .Mlies  commanded  by  the  l«^  »'  |,„„^,    ,     ,„ 

i„,    Tl,ere  is  no  „>ent,on  of  '■■■';-  '''S^^)  „;.,„,  f^.J  tU,i„gs 
two  other  French  vessels  from  '-"'•^f     "^"';,  „„„  \„  y,,,,   1  shall. 

and  I   find   an   "PP-'-;'\  ;,:;;,  "rw  1  from'  New  Eng- 
Write.  I  pray,  to  n,e  '•""   ;^'^;"  ^  '^^l^^^      „„  ,„y  „,„„nendations 

riy:::-:r:;^r^^-:--C-^^ 

uel  Emery,  to  Lieutenant  Thomas  Bake.  .Vc  1  remain 


Out  of  Acadia  we  have  the 
confirmation  of  the  news  we 
had  already  had  that  most  of 
the  souldiers  of  the  garrison 
at  Port  Royal  were  dead  of 
the  scurvy. 

Ville-Marie  in  the 
Island  of  Montreal 
June  25.  1711" 


Sir 

Your  Most 

Humble  Servant 
Meriel  Prieft. 


"^""•"WlfflPIBil 


368 


APPENDIX. 


fORRKSI'ONDF.NCK  ((INCKKMNC.  KNSUiN  DK  VKKCIICKKS.       L"H()VKNK.Y."J 


Letter  from  Governor  Dudley  of  Mass.  to  (lovernor  Hun- 
ter of  N.  Y.: 


"Boston  31  Decern',  1711. 


S^ 


This  last  post  1  troubled  you  with  a  letter  referring  to  a 
Letter  J  .sent  to  Albany  directed  to  Mr  Voderil  for  the  Exchange  of 
prisoners  which  I  have  holden  with  him  these  nine  years  past  and 
since  I  sent  M""  Bovency  a  french  ensign  who  J  have  had  in  my 
hands  these  two  yeares  (in  exchange  for  whom  nir  voderil  the  last 
spring  sent  me  Captain  Harmon  an  English  officer)  with  a  passport 
to  returne  home  by  way  of  Albany  by  whom  J  further  acquainted 
Mr  Voderil  that  1  had  in  my  hands  forty  french  prisoners  which  J 
offered  him  in  Exchange  for  as  many  of  mine  Jn  his  hands  both  my 
said  Letters  &  Boveney  are  stayed  by  the  Gentlemen  at  Albany  for 
your  Excellfucys  allowance  as  they  write,  1  pray  of  you  s''  that  the 
said  french  prisoner  «!v:  the  Letters  may  be  allowed  to  pass  that  1 
may  have  her  majestys  subjects  return  &  may  be  quit  of  the  french- 
men in  my  hands  which  J  judge  is  for  her  Majesty's  service  i\:  very 
well  accepted  at  all  times  by  her  majesty's  government,  if  the  send- 
ing by  Albany  be  a  trouble  J  will  avoyd  it  for  the  future  he  the  said 
M''  Boveney  was  sent  with  General  Hill  into  Canada  river  to  be  sent 
home  and  is  now  in  Albany  at  his  own  desire  &  will  fnid  the  way 
home  with  my  letter  with  a  couple  of  straggling  Indians  if  he  may 
be  allowed  which  is  what  J  Desire  of  your  Excellency  if  it  may  con- 
sist with  your  own  good  opinion 

1  am  "■■ 

Your  Excellency" 

most  faithful 

humble  servant 

J.  D." 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  2,  p.  462. 


Ari'ENDIX. 


369 


«'To  his  Ex-^y  ^,     ^ 

Joseph  Dudley  Esq'  (^oV 
andCapt.  (>en"  of  her  Mat>-  ^ 

Province  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts. 

^^  .,  f  ,r,.i,rc  rel'iteineto  the  (lentleman- 

upon  his  retume  to  Canada  ^j'  "  ^J  .^  j  „,„,„Uecl  I.er  Maj- 
at  Albany  of  that  persons  be.ng  "'"'^^  \7;\,  „,„e,-s  stood  it  was 
es.y-s  council  here,  who  were  o  '^'^^^^l^^,,  ,i,„e,  consider- 
neither  sate  nor  expedtent   o  let  h™  P/"^'-;','  ?,  ,,  ,,  ^h,  „ate 

inj;  our  own  ill  posture  and  the  admes  he  m.ght  g  ^^^^.^^  ^ 

of  the  Roads  and  Lakes  by  wh.ch  he  "^  '°  ' "^^"^^  ^J,  ,,  „,eseu. 

sent  to  detain  him  '^^^'^^^J'^^'  .^rt:  as  they  ar'e  e 

as  he  could  not  poss.bly  wade  th  oug  accomm.Klate 

practicable,  1  fhall  Send   orders  to  let  h™  «  ^_^^  ^„^  ,„. 

;-:tC::;;:::>irrr'^9rL.dcaL.  .shai, 

m  all  my  best  Indeavour  to  approve  n.ybelf 
^  Your  Ex'S'^  most  obedt 

Humble  Servant 

Ro.  Hunter. 

N.  York 

ort'hVZI'l'eUer  of  Gov.  Hunter  is  endorsed  the  foUow- 
i„rwhichl  evidently  a  e„py  of  Dttdley's  answer  : 
,„g,  wmcn  ..Uoston,  29"'  January,  17 '  ■• 

^-  •   ,..         „  ,>^«t  since  1  have  had  Exchanges  of 

,  ,,      Tin-   leuer  is  endorsed  "Gov.  Hunters 

,M»s.    Arehives     yo   ^.  P^4       J  '  ■  ^t:;,,,,  30  ]»-ary." 
L"-  relating  to  Boveney  15  I'l"-  »7'»- 

"i.  e.  "Boveney." 


370  appf:ndix. 

erally  Sent  them  by  Albany  and  have  had  from  Canada  by  Several 
Ways  by  Sea  and  I, and  some  hundreds  of  prifoners  and  have  Sent 
moie  to  him  a"d  have  now  Forty  that  J  Keep  at  great  Charge  to 
Exchange  for  as  many  and  More  that  are  in  French  hands  of  Her 
Majesty's  good  Subjects.  The  Letters  that  Accompany  M"".  Uove- 
ney  the  I'Venchman  are  to  procure  this  E^ichange  at  the  Earnest 
Desire  of  the  Assembly  &  Council  of  this  Province  at  all  times  to 
whom  J  Communicate  always  what  J  write  to  that  Side,  and  would 
be  Glad  J  could  Communicate  with  you  at  all  times  in  this  and  Ev- 
erything Else  Jmporting  Her  Majesty's  Service.  IJoveney  now  at 
Albany  is  a  poor  Country  Boy  for  whome  J  Rec''  Captain  Harmon 
a  very  Ciood  Officer  and  must  Returne  again  if  J  cannot  Cet  IJove- 
ney home  he  was  in  the  Fleet  going  to  Canada  with  the  General  to 
have  returned  that  way  and  being  unfortunate  there  J  thought  this 
the  best  way  J  could  be  Glad  while  he  Stays  those  Letters  might  go 
forward  otherwise  J  shall  have  no  Exchange  the  Spring  coming  and 
if  Boveney  may  not  go  home  Soon  J  must  Send  Some  other  way  to 
Acquaint  M'  Vaudruelle  That  1  have  Captain  Harmon  and  That 
Boveney  Shall  come  as  soon  as  J  can  Tho  if  sould  L^  Stayed  till 
News  from  Great  Britain  it  will  be  worse  to  Send  him  then,  then  it 
is  now 

I  am  S' 

Your  FLxcellencys 

most  ffaithfull  Humble 

Servant 

J  Dudley." 

Letter  to  Col.  Samuel  Partridge  of  Hatfield,  Mass.,  from 
Jonas  [or  Jona]  Douw  :' 

"Albany  y  15"'  Desemb""   1712 
S'  this  gives  Occation  to  me  to  write  to  You  Since  J  did 

Some  time  ago  Give  nu  S;>m"  Afhley  a  power  of  attorney  to  Re- 
ceive Such  Sumse  of  money  Due  to  me  for  Keeping  of  mr  Bouenc 
de  Verfhare  J  find  Your  promife  for  the  payment  when  J  should 
Send  a  power  of  atterney  to    Receive  the  same  but  J  at  Constant 

'Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  3,  p.  130. 


ArrKNni>^- 


37» 


"  .  u.  Rr.-eive  Sucl»   DenKUids  as  i)r()p.)scd  by 

,-„„,„c  .-.ivcng  p.wer^     K^c  V  ,.,  Porfcai.,,,  S-  J  ,.:...nosUy 

:>::■!:%::  ;;ilt-..'t.,w\,,.  ><..<; y  M-^y^'^  - - 

l^n,  mc  .UHl  y..«  will  Vcrry  „,u.-.l,  .,l,lca.l«.  .nc 
S'  Your  Verry  humb'" 

Servant 

JoiKi  Douw" 

Letter  from  Col.  Samuel  Partridge  to  (lovcraor  Dudley:' 

•♦Hatfield,  dec:  31    i7'2 

May  it  pleafe  yo-  Kxcellency         ^   ^^^^  ^^^.^  ^^^^  ^^^^   j^^^^^,,.,^   ^^^ 

1       v,-v,'  r.'-ich'  the   Frentch   Mefsenjiers  cV 
,He  port  from  A  >any  w'-       -  -.cl.   .^_^^        ^^^_^  ^^,^  ^^^^^^^^  ^,^ 

the  Letters  J  Kee    of  '"  ^  Knclofsed  fron,  MkH.y  to 

^  ?^'T^'';;  :     l^^.b.         Inft-n'    1.=.-  here   Hnclofsec,  al.,e 
yo"^  Self  cv   Dy  m     i^^u  „npr^  for  to  be  payd  for  his 

Capt.  Jonas  Uowe  f»"o-  m^  ^"^  3'  '  ,  Months  It' ,^  c.  o. 
Keeping  Monf  l"'^'="«^''^'^"'■''"  i  "  ^,  f„,„,  „,e  Jn  the  <lay  of 
°\'rrrrcrrsir  o^lir^^tr  LorainAoclirections 

is  not  done  ]  have  Enclofed  h.s  I.au    .V  ^^^^^       ^^^^ 

hath  happened  &  7'',';';:f ;„:'„/:   \;'„\,„tion  of  Wa,r  goeing 

that  an  Jnchan  fnnn  'j''  "    '^  "     ';_.^i^„  p-sented  to  yo'  Self  Madame 
forward  there  w.tlMny  ft  nd.leSe'e,  ^^^^^^^  ^^^.^^^^^ 

Dudleys;  yo'  whole  f.onily.     Kemlenns   1., 

h,  Obeydiencc  &  am  yo'  verry  Humble  berv         ^^^^^^^  i.^rtridge." 

P.  s 


nAC.K.mi.I.K,  AMliASSADOK  KKOM 


CANADA  TO  AI.ISANY,  MAY.  I7>I- 


In  the  corres 


.pondence  between  the  Governors  of  Canada 


•Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  3.  P-  i3o- 


mmmimmmmi 


372  APPKNDrX. 


and  New  Enji^lrind  quoted  in  the  story  of  Euniee  Williams, 
p.  146,  r? ///<'.' 

De  Vaiidreuil  writes : 

"Voiir  Interpreter  has  ill-explained   my   l<etler in  that  yon 

did  not  fnrnisli  Mr  Da^neille  with  anything I  complain  with 

reason  that  in  sending  me  three  prisoners  by  him  y(Mi  obliged  him 
to  fnrnish  ihem  out  of  his  own  money  with  provisions  and    other 

necessaries   for  the  return    of  thos'i    three    men, contenting 

yourself  as  he  and  they  inform  me,  with  wishing  them  a  good  jour- 
ney. 

To  this  ehar^e  Dudley  replies: 

"1  dare  appeal  to  any  disinterested  and  competent  judges  as  to 
my  invariable  conduct  in   regard  to  supplies  and  provisions  for  the 

French  captives  returncil    by   Mr   l-esguilles  |I)agueillc| It 

has  exceeded  and  never  fallen  short  of  what  lias  been  done  for  my 
poor  people  elsewhere," 


Letter  from  General  Nicholson  and  others  to  M.  de  Vaudreiul.'^ 

"Annapolis  Royal,  11.  oct.  1710. 
Monsieur, 

It  having  pleased  God  to  bless  with  success,  the  just  and 

royal  enterprise  of  Her   Majesty  Anne Queen  of   England, 

France  and  Ireland,  defender  of  the  faith,  by  reducing  to  her  sub- 
jection the   l''ort  of  Port- Royal  and  the  country  ailjacent, we 

think  it  proper  to  inform  you  that,  since  you  have  made  several  at- 
tacks upon  her  Majesty's  frontiers,  your  cruel  and  barbarous  Sav- 
ages and  Frenchmen  hav'.ig  inhumanly  massacred  many  poor  peo- 

'Letter  from  De  Vaiidreuil  to  Dudley,   Montreal,  June   12,  1713.      Dudley's 
reply,  Koston,  June  27,  1713.     Mass.  Archives,  Vol.  2,  pp.  631-636. 

*Doc.  Pub.  a  yuebec,  Vol.   II.,  p.  524. 


AIM'KNDIX. 


ill 


|)le  and  children,  in  case  the  French  after  your  receipt  of  this  letter, 
shall  commit  any  hostilities  and  barbarities,  immediately  upon  in- 
formation of  sucli  acts,  we  will  aveiijjc  ourselves  by  similar  atroci- 
ties upon  your  people  in  Acadia.  Hut  as  we  abhor  the  i;ruelty  of 
your  Savages  in  war,  wc  hope  liiat  you  will  give  us  no  occasion  to 

imitate  them you  have  a  great  number  of   prisoners  under 

your  jurisdiction,  especially  a  young  girl,  the  daughter  of  the  Kev. 
Mr.  Williams,  Minister  of  iJeerlield,  we  hope  that  you  will  have 
all  the  Said  prisoners  ready  to  be  delivered  up,  at  tlie  first  flag 
of  truce  that  we  shall  sentl,  in  the  month  of  May  next;  otherwise 
you  may  expect  that  an  equal  nund)er  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
country  will  be  enslaved  among  our  savages  uutil  there  shall  be  a 
complete  restitution  of  the  subjects  of  Her  Majesty,  whether  they 

be  in  the  possession  of  the  l'"rench  or  Indians 

[Signed  |   V.  Nicholson, 
Sam  Vetch, 
Charles  l*'.  I'"d)l)ey, 
Robert  Reading, 
CK  Martin, 
'rhomas  Mathcw, 
William   Bidele, 
(reorge  Gordon." 

De  Vaudreiiil  speak.s  as  follows  of  the  above  letter,  and  of 
his  action  thereupon  in  a  letter  to  the  French  Minister  dated 
25th  ^  pril,  171 1 :' 

"M,  de  Subercase  having  surrendered  on  the  13th  of  October, 
he  and  M""  Nicholson,  Gener?l  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Queen  of  England's  forces  on  this  Continent,  have  both  sent  Baron 
de  St  Castine  and  Major  Levingston  to  me  through  the  forest.  I 
annex  hereunto,  My  Lord,  the  letter  M''  Nicholson  has  written  me 
and  my  answer  to  him,  which  I  have  sent  by  Mess"  de  Rouville  and 
Depuis,  being  very  glad  to  employ  these  two  officers  on  this  occasion 
in  order  to  obtain  information  through  them  of  the  movements  of 

'N.  Y,  Col.  Doc,  Vol.  IX,  p.  853,  et,  seq.     See  also  a  tTsumJ oi  this  letter, 
dated  8.  novembre  1711  in  Doc.  Rel.,  (Sic,  &c..  Vol.  II.,  p.  546. 


ip^w^iws^^ww 


374 


APPKNDIX. 


our  enemies,  and  at  the  Same  time  to  make  them  acquainted  with 
the  Country  and  the  most  favorable  routes  to  send  parties  thither." 

On  the  15th  of  June,  171 1,  Costebello,  Commandant  at 
Plaisance,  writes  that  he  has  "sent  the  Sietir  de  la  Ronde- 
Denis  to  Boston  eoncerning  an  exehange  of  prisoners.  He 
will  reclaim  Pure  Justinian  and  bring  him  back  to  Plais- 
ance."^ Father  Justinian  was  a  Recollet  ])riest,  missionary 
and  cure  of  Port-Royal,  who  in  Janua'-y,  17 10,  while  cele- 
brating mass,  had  been  captured  with  five  of  his  flock,  car- 
ried to  Boston  and  imprisoned  there,  where  one  had  died. 
That  Father  Justinian  was  not  released  appears  probable 
from  the  following: 

"At  a  Council  held  Munday  2nd  of  April,  17 ii.'^ 
The  Honourable  Governour  Vetch  Commander-in-Chief  of  Her 
Majesty's  Fort  of  Annapolis  Royall  and  the  Country  of  Nova  Scotia 
52"=*,  representing  that  Father  Justinian  a  French  Priest  a  lawfull 
Prisoner  of  War  taken  within  the  Government  under  his  Care  was 
brought  hither  by  his  order  with  design  to  obtain  Mr.  Williams' 
daughter  in  exchange  for  him  having  hitherto  been  supported  at  his 
charge,  and  that  being  now  abcnit  to  return  to  his  Government,  he 
shall  otherwise  dispose  of  him;  unless  the  Government  be  willing  to 
take  him  into  their  care  to  be  exchanged  for  Mr.  William's  daugh- 
ter or  some  other  valuable  Prisoner. 

Advised  that  the  said  Priest  be  kept  to  be  exchanged  accordingly." 

Sieur  de  la  Ronde-Denis  came  several  times  to  Bo.s- 
ton,  as  ambassador  from  Bonaventure,  Governor  of  Port- 
Royal. 

"At  a  Council  held  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston,  22nd  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1705.  His  Excellency  [Dudley.]  communicated  to  the  Coun- 
cil a  Letter  from  Mr.  Bonaventure  Commander  at  Port  Royal  re- 
ceived by  the  hand  of  a  French  Gentleman  whom  he    sent  hither 

'Doc.  Pub.  a  Quebec,  Vol.  II,  pp.  537-8. 
'Council  Records,  1708-1712,  Vol.  5,  p.  365. 


nm 


APPENDIX.  375 


with  Capt.  R.ouse  who  arrived  two  days  since  and  bnnight  seventeen 
English  prisoners,  and  all  appeared  at  the  Board." 

"At  a  C'ouncil  held  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  iJoston  upon  Wed- 
n  lay  the  17th  of  April  1706.  His  Excellency  acquainted  the 
Council  that  Mr  L'Ronde  Messenger  from  Mr  Bonaventure  Com- 
mander at  Port-Royal  is  very  desirous  to  return  the  time  for  his 
stay  heie  being  pafs'd  and  there  being  several  French  prisoners  to 
be  sent  thither  and  of  ours  there  to  be  brought  from  thence. 

Ordered,  That  M'  Commissary  Creneral  do  take  up  and  dispatch  a 
suitable  Vessel  for  the  transporting  of  the  s''  Mr  L'Ronde  with  the 
French  prisoners,  and  for  bringing  home  ours  from  thence  accord- 
ingly. 

J.  Dudley. 

His  Excellency  communicated  the  Draft  of  his  letter  to  Mr.  Bona- 
venture to  be  sent  by  Mr.  L'Ronde."' 

The  real  purpose  of  De  la  Ronde's  mission  appears  in  the 
following  resume  of  a  letter  f^om  Bonaventtire  to  the  French 
Minister,  dated  Port-Royal,  Dec.  24,  1706: 

"He  had  sent  the  Sieur  de  la  Ronde- Denis  to  Boston,  under  pre- 
text of  informing  himself  of  what  had  been  done  between  M.  de 
Vaudreuil,  and  the  governor  of  Boston  abou  i  exchange,  in  order 
that  he  mig.'t  examine  the  harbois,  ports,  and  forces  of  the  colony — 
This  he  has  done  so  that  he  (Bonaventure)  is  in  a  condition  to  at- 
tack this  colony  (Boston)  if  he  had  a  sufficient  force. "^ 

Concerning  this  embassy  the  Minister  writes  to  the  Sieur 
de  la  Ronde-Uenis: 

A  Versailles  30th  June  1707 
"1  am  satisfied  with  your  account  of  your  journey  to  Baston  and 
to  Quebec  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  1  am  very  glad  that 
you  have  takeii  cognizance  of  the  ports  of  the  coast  from  Por'c-Royal 

to  Baston You  have    only  to    follow  the    orders  of    M.  de 

Subercase,  and  devote  yourself  especially  to  interrupting  the  com- 
merce of  Baston" 

'Council  Records,  Vol.  4,  pp.  265-266. 
''Doc.  Pub,  a  Quebec   Vol.  II.,  p.  462. 


•iPVinH 


mmmm 


376 


APPENDIX. 


Writing  on  the  same  date  to  De  Subercase,  the  Minister 
says : 

"1  am  very  glad  that  the  Governor  of  Bastoii  has  sent  back  the 
man  named  l^aptiste  who  has  been  a  prisoner  there  for  four  years. 

You  can  employ  him  in  teaching  navigation  to  the  young  men  of 
the  country,  since  they  prefer  this  trade,  rather  than  to  work  on  the 
land."' 

An  account  of  an  "Enterprize  des  Bastonnias  stir  I'Acadie" 
dated  July  (>,  i/o;,'*^  mentions  vSubercase  "accompanied  by  the 
Sieurs  de  la  Ronde,  Faillant,  and  llaptistc,  and  about  200 
men,"  attempting  to  defend  the  mouth  of  the  Gaspercau 
against  the  Bastonnais. 

Here  we  have  evidence  of  Baptiste's  return  to  Port-Royal 
previotis  to  June  30,  1 707. 

The  vSieur  de  la  Ronde  came  twice,  at  least,  to  Boston  after 
this:  in  June,  171 1,  when  he  demanded  Father  Justinian, 
and  again  in  October,  1723. 

What  tales  the  Council  Chamber  of  the  old  State  House  in 
Boston  might  tell. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  Munday  2nd  of  April  1711.''  "His 
Excellency  proposed  the  sending  of  the  Indian  Woman  lately  taken 
by  the  troops  under  Colonel  Walton  with  a  Letter  tiirected  to  Moxis 
the  Eastern  Indian  Sagamore  importing  that  if  he  will  ])rocure  M"" 
Williams  daughter  from  her  Indian  Master  at  Canada  &  send  her 
hither  tliat  then  this  squaw  <S:  her  son  tV  daughter  (\vh(;  are  to  be  de- 
tained as  hostages  for  her  return  again)  shall  be  sett  at  liberty  iV 
returned  home." 

The  return  of  Maj.  Livingston  and  his  French  escort  ap- 
pears as  follows  in  our  Archives:* 

'I>()C.  I'ub.  a  yuebec,  \^ol.  II,  pp.  475-f). 
'•'Dor.  Pub.  ii  Quebec,  Vol.  II,  p.  477. 
■'Council  Records,  Vol.  5,  pp.  350-351. 
••Council  Records, 


APPENDIX. 


377 


Wait  Winthrop  ^^^^^^^  Townseiul 

Klisha  Hutchinson  l^sii''^'"  Andrew  Belcher  Esq-"'^ 

S;uiuiel  Sewall  j,^^l^^.,i  Hromfield 

Peter  Sergeant 

John  Walley  V^^q'"' 

Wm  Hutchinson 

Isaac  Addington  Ksq--"  ....^tcrdav  fn)in  Canada  accom- 

panied  with  son.e      «"'="  <"=''^  J;.  ,,,'^  vetcl>  (tc 

,|,euille  tu  his  exoellency  '" "•    '         ,^,^^„  ^„  ^„„  Council  .t  cheifly 
His  Excellency  c.nmim.u  leJ  his    at  ^^  ^_^^^  ,_.^ 

refernng  to  a„  exchange  of    \-""^' ;'  Vt".  „g  ,„  Mr  Commissary 

And  his  l.-.xcellency  gave  <'''■«'■''""'•       ",?.,,,,eh  Gent"  now  at 

,.,,„„,  .„.,   Mr  SherilT  ^^^  -  ^    ^     ;-;::  „„„  i„  settling  their 

'"'■■  '■■""'':  '^'i;:::  ..el  at  te  houses  adiontiug  and  t„  act,na,nt 
,|uarters  wheie  '■^"-i /  \^''^  j|,„,„  t„  u,c  -I'own  House  n,  Bos- 
then,  that  the  sherr.lte  .,11  -'"^  ™  J",^  ^,^„„  „,,„„  the  governor 
ton  on  Monday  next  '  ^^  "^  ;M'  icdentials  and  withall  to 
„iU  see  then,  ,n  Councl  to  rcce.vc  t  c.  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^ 

-;r::r::t:™=:".'-----'-^^-"' 

day,he.6.>.o...-ebruary„.o.^^^^_^^^ 

ville  and  Unpnix  Messengers  ';»-  f  .^f  ;^';"„„„,  ;„  Council,  and 
ada  they  were  admitted  ^" :^<^^^  ,,,„,d  them,  the  ac 
,hew"  forth  their  credentials;  H,s  bxcelle     y  ^^^  ^^^^^^ 

,..Geo,ge  Tavc,"  on  ,...  Neck    "»'    ^^^T",';:!;.  ;';.,„;„„'  „,  DocK  S,„ar= 
in  I72t.     "George    Tavern     same   as 
and  Elm  St. 

•^Council  Records,  Vol.  5.  P-  355. 


37« 


Al'I'KNDIX. 


coiiipt  depending  l)etwixt  this  j^ovei  iinient  and  M'  VaudreiiilU;  for 
money  by  liini  advanced  to  Mess'"  Appleton  (Si  Sheldon  in  their  re- 
spective nejjotiat'ions  at  (^uebeck  slioiild  be  forthwitii  adjusted  and 
the  Haliaiue  paid  and  that  he  will  confer  with  them  upon  the  pro- 
posal for  the  exchan;(e  of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  if  they  can  come 
to  a  mutual  aj>;r(;ement  thereabout;  so  as  to  dispatch  them  this  week 
without  beinjf  detained  lonji^er  aj^reeable  to  M'  Vaudruille's  (U-sire  in 
his  letter  and  relurn  before  the  lee  bejjjone." 

vSewall,  the  omniscient,  has  the  followinjjf: 

"I'd)  26.  1710-11 

'i'his  day  p.  in.  the  (lov'  has  the  i-'rench  Messengers  from  (.'anada 
in  Council;  Had  the  (louncillors  on  his  I^eft  hand,  ("ol.  Vetch  and 
tiiem  on  his  right ;  on  the  right  also  were  Mr.  St;crctary  and  Mr. 
Commissary.  Read  their  ( Iredcnilials  by  Mr\V(^aver  the  Interpreter. 
Reprimanded  one  Anthony  Oliver'  forgoing  to  them  at  Meers's-  and 
to  the  i''rier  without  leave;  made  him  take  the  Oaths,  and  subscribe 
to  the  Declaration.''  Told  the  Messengers  they  should  depart  that 
day  sennight  as  had  told  lhe('ouncil  with  some  Spirit,  last  Satlerday : 
at  which  time  Col.  Vetch  said  the  people  of  N.  1'^.  were  generally 
given  to  Lying;  to  wliic.h  the  (lov'  said  not  a  word." 

"At  a  (Council  held  at  the  Council  (!hand)er  in  i'.oston  u|)on  Satur- 
day y''  3"'  March,   1710.' 

Ordered  that  .Mess''''  Rouville  i\:  Dupui.x  ("ommissioners  from  Mon" 
iJ'Vaudruille  (lovernor  of  (!anaila  to  negotiate  an  e.xchangi;  of  Pris- 
oners on  both  sides  be  allowed  twenty  shillings  p'  Diem  for  their 
Table  during  their  stay  in  this  (lovernmeiit 

And  that  M'  Commissary  Ceneral  make  up  the  account  of  the 
charge  of  the  two  men  and  the  Horses  that  attended  'em  from  Re- 
hoboth  to  Hoston  and  have  been  detained  to  accompany  them  back 
as  far  as  New  liondon  and  pay  the  men  for  their  service  at  the  rate 

'Antoine  UliviL-r,  Huj^uciiol  u(  Hoston. 

'Sainuel  Mears  kcpl  itic  Sun  'ravein  in  ('niti-("oiiii  iirar  Dock  .S(|ii;irc. 

•'Tlicse  arc  llie    Oatlis  of  All<'>>i.in(tf   and    Siii)ri'Mia(  y,  ami   ilic  Declaration 
u(rainst  Transuljstantiation. 

^Council  Records,  Vol.  5. 


Ai'i'i';M>i>^- 


379 


,,„,   u„.|v,'    \n:«..<:    f.,r  .,  l...rs<M>'  l'"^'" 
„v.,-  ,V  al,..v.  men  ,V    ;"-  „,     ,■„„„„,   ,„-,„,osc,l  u,-.l  .■■""- 

„„  u,.:  pan  ..t  .•,.,v,.nun,     ....       1^           .  ,,s,r <:..".."■'-',•,<■..■-;;■ 
,.a..f  twc..iy-ciKi.i  I"'";':';;';';  ;',„„,„i,L  c.vc- ..r  <:--i^; 

,„„1  Daimix  MCSS...KC.-S    f'""'  ,,  v.„„l,-i..ll.t  supply.:.! 

„„„„  u,c  i.,.ii......  "'/;;^ "'-;;;";  '  ,  "  I,,.,a,v..  An.,„..a„..:s  „„ 

,,i,„  f,-,„„  U.is  (■...v.-n,....=.>t   •""I    '"'    '' 

ll'<^"'  ,  c'   ,„  i»„  ..ui.ii.ls  foil.-  sliilli..«^  ''^'  '■'■■"•  l"""-'' 

A,,.,  11,..  f„r.l..:.-  -""  "' "'^'r'"'  ,i,„  .u....r...«  ll"^  «i'l  "'"f 

„  ,,,,,,,.H  „f  „..:..  .V    ...r«-  '-^  '    ;       '      ,,1,1,,,,,  I  „„,  „.l,„ .,  as  f... 

as  New  1 1....    'V    (...-  ^1'-'  ,'",:';,„„    ;,„„„.ls  a,..l  uvo  p-:...  .., 

,-,-a.l'a.axpU..I  a.,.l  ,„,„,,,  ,„„    il....-.:..p...>  I" 

A,lv,s...l    ,V    (-.....cl...       "■';•'    ^■,,;,,A,„l,-cw   l,.:l.-.l...-  ICS.,.  U... 

>rLh  of  April,   17".     11^  ^'/y^  -,         ,^„„.    The  I'.n^- 

lish  had  not  received  .my  new.  Boston." 

,,  ,,.u-cU.  U,e  ,...t.  ..f  ;  e,^  ^^^^  ^  ^^r.H^-ners  in  the  Hands 

They  earned  a    Ron  <>i    •-  ^       ,„,„,^,, 
„f  tue  iMcnch  ana  In.Uans  at  ^^J^\  ,„„tains  the 

A  dnplicate  ..f  this  l.st  .s  in  oni  Af'-^  ^^";  repetitions. 

Am.,nn   then,    are    ""-!*"    i„,ter  Sawyar.l.  all  ..f 

J„hns.m  Harmon,   M^O' .^^^Vlt'ster  Wheelwright.  Wells. 

Y„rk      Mary  S  Irer.  Haveihill,  nesie. 

On  tt.baek'of  the  list  is  the  foll.nviniJ  letter. 


38o 


APPKNDIX. 


Sir, 


"Boston  5"'  March  1710.' 


This  comes  to  your  hand  by  Mess"  D'Rouville  &  Depuis 
Messengers  from  Mr  D'Voiidruille  1  have  to  thank  your  I<ind  Dis- 
creation  in  sending  them  the  Round  Way  that  they  migh.  not  know 
our  Albany  Road,  upon  the  Same  Consideration  1  have  Returned 
them  the  same  way  &  am  (ilad  we  liave  had  no  News  from  Europe 
dureing  their  stay  here  &  hope  to  have  them  Dispatch  before  any. 
thing  Arrive.  They  have  shewed  themselves  good  men  here  have 
signed  Articles  with  me  for  the  Rendition  of  all  Prisoners  in  June 
next.     I  pray  you  to  speed  them  away  as  soon  as  possible. 

1  am  Sir  your  very  humble  Serv' 


To.  Col.  Schuyler." 


J.  Dudley. 


EUNICK  Wn,LIAM.S  AND  HER  DESCENDANT.S. 
From  the  Records  at  Cmighnawagii. 

Since  John  Schuyler's  Memorial,  little  ha.s  been  known  of 
Eunice  Williams.  It  is  hoped  that  the  following  may  throw 
light  upon  her  later  history. 

Baptismal  records  at  the  mission  of  Sault  Saint-Louis, 
(Caughnawaga)  exist  from  March  i,  1735,  to  March  10,  1745. 
From  this  to  March  25,  1753,  they  are  wanting.  After  that 
to  the  present  date  they  are  complete. 

Marriage  records  exist  from  Sept.  30,  1743,  to  June  24, 
1747,  and  from  Jan.  29,  1763,  forward  to  this  day. 

Records  of  deaths  begin  January,  1762. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the  baptism  of  Eunice  Wil- 

'Evidently  this  date  should  be  1710-11. 


APPENTIIX- 


381 


nrds  nor  does  her  Enjrlish  name. 

or  Indian  proper  names.     Possibly  Amrusus  is  a  c        p 

(     Ar,.UrnW    a  favorite   French    name    in    Caiiaaa.     i^^i^v 
f  PTFTrbl  a  scholarly  man,  an  adept  in  the  Iroquois  Ian- 

records,  says  tliat  tne  ndim.  -pnrhes  "are  certainly 

"Torosoand  Amrusus,"  writes  Mr.  tmbes,    '^^^  ^ 

c      T^ViPv  ire  not  Iroquois  at  all.      iney  reunu^i 
corrupt  names,      iheyarenoin   4  Iroquois, 

^„«  rvf  "Arosen"  and  "Tekentarosen,     whicti  are   1104 
one  of     Arosen     a  ^^  ^^  Caughnawaga 

and  proper  ^ame    foi  men.       i  ^^  ^^^^.       ^^  ^^^^ 

have  been  carefully  studica  ^^  ^^^  J  ^  Tekentarosen 
suggestive  of  .^.rusus  ^l^^^^lJ,^^^^^^^^^  with 

occur  as  masculine  names  bu  '^l'''''^'^'^.^^  .^search 
Eunice  Williams  or  her  ^1^^^:^^,^,,^  of  the 
and  patient  labor  «^^[;^F"  J^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^-.^  authenticated  ex- 
Iroquois  language  has  fuinislica  '^^^  From 

tird'enrof\ir^^^^^^       Eunice.  Tam  able  to  collate 
what  follows : 


382  APPENDIX. 


On  one  of  these  occasions,  she  was  gfodmother  to  the  child 
of  an  Indian  named  Karenhisen. 

A  Catharine  was  also  godmother  to  one  of  Karenhisen's 
children.  It  is  now  rnid  always  has  been  a  custom  of  the 
Caughnawaga  Indians  for  kinswomen  of  the  father  to  stand 
for  his  children.  Therefore,  Mr.  Forbes  concludes  that  Mar- 
guerite and  Catharine  were  kinswomen  of  Karenhisen,  and 
probably  related  to  each  other. 

We  know  that  Eunice  (Marguerite)  had  a  daughter  Catha- 
rine. Why  may  we  not  assume  that  this  Marguerite  was 
Eunice,  and  this  Catharine  her  daughter  ?  Admitting  this, 
we  get  here  Eunice's  Indian  name,  given  in  these  four  bap- 
tismal records  with  four  variations,  viz.:  Marguerite  Haon'got, 
Marguerite  Gon'aongote,  Marguerite  Saongote  and  Margue- 
rite Aongote. 

"This  name,"  says  Mr.  Forbes,  "may  be  translated  'They 
took  her  and  placed  her  as  a  member  of  their  tribe.'  "  It  thus 
appears,  that  whoever  this  godmother  was,  she  did  not  be- 
long by  birth  to  the  tribe :  "they  took  her  and  placed  her  as 
a  member  of  their  tribe."  If  this  be  Eunice  Williams,  as  I 
believe,  what  more  touching  and  appropriate  name  could 
have  been  given  her  ? 

The  order  and  the  dates  of  the  births  of  Eunice's  children 
are  unknown.  Rev.  James  Dean,  missionary  to  the  Indians 
at  Caughnawaga  and  Saint-Francis  in  1773  and  1774,  knew 
Eunice  well.  He  wrote  to  her  brother  Stephen  Nov.  12, 
1774.'  "vShe  has  two  daughters  &  one  grandson  which  are 
all  the  Descendants  she  has." 

John,  son  of  Eunice,  died  childless  at  Lake  George,  in 
1758"^.  Catharine,  daughter  of  Eunice,  [see  (rntc]  appears  on 
Caughnawaga  records  as  Catharine  Asonnontie  and  Catha- 
rine Kassinontie.     (F'lying  leg.) 

'Sheldon's  Hist,  of  DeerfieUl,  Vol.  i,  p.  351. 
nVilliam  Watd  \Vi   hi's  "Eleazer  Williams." 


APPENDIX. 


383 


leg)  his  wife,  m  1807.  ^^.     ..^^.^  ^,,^,^,ig,^. 

.I.e  douze  seplembre  m.l  »^^ '   ^^       ^^^  •  ,^  Catherine  Rasinontie, 

a  etc  inhumce  dans  le  c.nuucre  de  <^^^^^^  ,.^^,,i,,,  ,,atre 

.auva.esse  de  -;;^^^-    --^^  ^^^^^^  Presents  Charles 

gen,  Grand  Chef   de    ce       "^^^  '  Oassinontie.     presents  Mess- 

Quatre  vuigts  ans,  epoux  dc  ^-^then  ^.j^,.,,  Consigny 

i^urs  lean  Baptiste  Bruguier,  Cu.c  dc  Chateau,    , 
de  la  Chine,  et  autres,  ^""^^'^^"^^.^^^^j^  A ;  SanFelson  ptre 

Bruguier  ptre 

Pierre  Consigny  ptre  ,, 

Ch^  Pe  Lorimier  1-e  ckrc  m.ss. 

dannasategen  elle  t^U  agec  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^.^^^^    ,^^.^^... 

Translation.     ''On   the  -enty-sixth^  c.  N^-^-e- ;^5,  1^^^ 
buried  Marguerite,  mother-uvlaw  of  Onasategen. 
five  years  old."  ^^^^^^^  ^^    Ducbarme,  Mission  priest." 

had  made  her  look  older  than  she  was. 


384  API'KNDIX. 

vScptcinber,  1696,  and  would  therefore  luive  been  ei};hly-nine 
at  her  death. 

Wc  have  seen  that  two  out  of  Eunice's  three  chiUlren  died 
without  isstie.  Mary  is  the  only  child  of  ICunice  throuj^h 
whom  we  can  trace  the  descent.  The  name  of  her  husband, 
the  father  of  her  children,  has  hitherto  eluded  search.  Mr. 
Wight  quotinj^  JOleazer's  statement  on  this  point,  leaves  it 
without  a  shadow  of  credibility  and  says,  "The  fact  is  that 
the  husband  of  vSarah,  |meaninj^  Mary|  was  an  Indian  of  un- 
known, mayhap  of  unpossessed  name." 

The  foUowing  extracts  from  the  records  at  Caughnawayfa, 
establish  the  fact  that  lumice's  dauj^hters  were  Catharine, 
who  died  without  children,  and  Mary,  |  nt)t  Sarah )  who  be- 
came the  mother  of  Thomas. 

Mary  appears  on  the  records  of  Caughnawaga  as  Marie 
Skentsiese.     (New  fish.) 

There  is  no  record  of  her  marriage.  Her  husband's  name 
heretofore  unknown,  was  Louis  vSatagaienton.  (iupially 
sown.)  The  only  child  of  this  marriage  was  Thomas,  bap- 
tized as  follows: 

"1759  Die  6.  jan:  ego  idem  [J.  B.  Deiionville  S.  J.]  IJaptiz.ivi 
cum  ecclesiae  ceremoiiiis  piierum  receiis  natiini  ex  palre  budovico 
Sateguienton  et  matre  Maria  Skentsiese  conjiigibus  qiieni  Tliomam 
nominavit  Thomas  Taronhiagannere." 

Translation.  '-On  the  sixth  day  of  January,  1759,  I,  the  same 
[the  priest  here  refers  to  his  own  name  J.  B.  Denonville  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus,]  have  baptized  with  the  rites  of  the  church,  a  new- 
born boy,  the  father  Louis  Sataguienton,  the  mother  Marie  Skent- 
siese, husband  and  wife,  whom  Thomas  Taronhiagannere'  named 
Thomas." 

Thomas  Thorakwanneken  or  Tehorakwanneken,  (Two 
suns  together,)  of  whose  Indian  name  there  are  several  vari- 

'The  godfather. 


■U'ENDIX. 


385 


H     nnlv  child  of  Lcuis  SatM^niienton  and  Mane 

ations.  was  ^^^^^^  death  is  thus  recorded  : 
Skentsiesc.     His  moth     ^  ^^^^_^  fem.ue  d  •  SaUv«a.cnt..n, 

.^M.i  le   .4.   .779  -  ^-^^   -Y.rand  service  1  sur  Ic  corps.  ^^ 

iijrce  d'cnviron  40  ^^"^-     "'  '  '  '^  j,,,  Hujriict  ptre.     S.  J- 

u-      r;f..'<  'inccstrv.  Louis  Sata^niienton 
out  of  respect  to  h,s  J^^-;^:^''\,^   ,,,nned  a  secoud 

His  first  child  by  his  f--^^^^^;^  ^,^,,^  died  in  .S.2.' 
Louis  Satagaienton  died  m   ^03^        ■  ^^^  ^^^^^^.^  ^^^^^^ 

Anne,  f.lle  de  .^^^  ^         ,„p„lcv,  c.re.no- 

„  ,,„e  „«o  ,den>  [..  =^  ^'  '"^  '  ^,,  n.oma  teHorakw.nne- 
niasbaptismi  h,  1>"-'™  f '^  :,'  GoiiateScntet,.,,  cnjugibus,  n,.en, 
gen  et  ex   matre    M.iua   An  h„„„asategen  con).ix.  • 

priest  S  J.  have  ad„n„,stere.U;.u^^.^^^ ,^^^^^    ^^^^,  ,„ 

Sa^:^:;:;..:^;  ;i.:r:nd ......  o.... ... ... .. 

The    above   is   ^^/^'V'       °^„,,Hter  of  Eunice,  and  grand- 

name  of  John.  Thomas's  second  child, 

Catharine  was  godmothei  also  to 

•Caughnawaga  Recor.ls.  Marlboro    captive    named 

.Mr.  Wight  says  that  she  was  descended    fro.n 
Rice. 


386 


API'KNDIX. 


a  y^irl  whom  shv  named  f<»r  herself.'  Catharine's  a(h)|)Le(l 
(laughter  Louise  was  j^odmolhiM"  lo  'riiomas's  third  chihl, 
whom  she  named  Louise.'  Catharine,  (hiu^hter  of  ICuniee 
and  wife  of  ( )nosate}j^eu,  died  in  1S07.' 

The  reeords  at  Cau}^hnawaj;a  yive  thi-  births  of  eleven 
ehildren  to  Thomas.  We  have  i)lenty  of  evidetiee  that 
h^leazer  also  was  his  son.  There  are  now  in  Cau^hnawa^^a 
several  j^randehildren  and  ^reat-^randehildren  of  Thomas 
TehorakSanneken. 


Cllll DKK';  OK    KK.V.  JOHN   AND  Kt'Nn  K  M  \  I  1 1  !■  K   W  1 1,1,1  AMS. 

Rev.  John  Williams  married  sueeessively  two  eousins, 
^randdauj^hters  of  Rev.  John  Warham  of  Windsor,  Conn, 
ilis  first  wife  and  all  their  ehildren  exeept  IClea/.er,  the  eld- 
est, who  was  away  at  sehool,  and  two  who  died  previously, 
were  either  killed  or  eaptured,  Feb.  29,  1703-4. 

Eleazer  beeame  the  minister  of  Mansfield,  Conn. 

Samuel  died  unmarried  in  1713. 

Esther  married  Rev.  Joseph  Meaeham  of  Coventry,  Conn. 

Stephen  beeame  the  minister  of  Longmeadow,  Mass. 

Euniee  remained  in  Canada. 

Warham  beeame  the  minister  of  Watertown,  West  Pre- 
einet,  now  Waltham,  Mass. 

Rev.  Stephen  Williams  of  Longmeadow,  kept  a  diary  for 
many  years.  It  eonsists  of  eleven  Mss.  volumes,  very  elose- 
ly  written  searcely  punctuated  and  with  many  abbreviations 
peculiar  to  himself.  One  volume  was  burned  in  the  fire 
which  destroyed  the  old  parsonage  in  1846.    The  part  eover- 

'Caughnawaga  Records. 


Al'l'KNPlX- 


J»7 


•  ~  ,       "'     ,_w.,„,l   ,7,  ■  iiu'Uisive,  consists  <  if 

insj  the  period  l.cUvco    .,,,s  ■  '  1  'J'.^;^,,,M\yca\i.d 

/;  ^Ir'sLcLlon,  l.as  been  l'"'''',;'-  '    f^  ^, ,    '.Inesy  of  the 

cusUuUans  of  ll.e  'l-''^'    '"^     '  '^^,„  ,^,„.,a„aare  here  pub- 
two  visits  of  '•:""'-';.W''"^;:;;  ,,,  ;„f  l.".-  Unsbana  bas  not 

^:x::v::^r:Mraia;;;ur.be.efn.sea.,t.>asbeen 

buny  .nfonn.ng  '  -  ^    '.^^  •^^^.,^^,  „,  go  thither. 
Albany  next  week  .V  1  am  ucsni. 


'1740 


Monday 


12 


27 


n,aveW.,teU,a,yb.atMOiu=ing,,l.nanac^ 

»"'  '  "T-^  r  •;";    eT         "-.Htw^.  direct  .  .,c,p 
see  whether  he  U  come  iv  on   y 

.,s  all  i.  tibs  -''^lyf;^'  „,,„,„pamc.'  by  my  b,- 

This  day  1  set  oat     '^^"^         ,,^  „^;„  ,  „„„f„rtablc 

w  of  m  &  n.y  l^''""'",,^''-'  ,  "'  ,  ,  .,„  „>   p.^niculars  „t 
journey  and   got  to  Albany  c"  y    'D     V    1 

„'h  1  met  with  'i"  y"  .  t  „.h  1  propose  to 

|1  have  wr"  n,  "'^  '""      .';„'s„rro»ful  n,eetin«  of  o- 
keep]  when  -  "J  (f ,    '>  ,,,  Ifrom]  for  above 

poor  S.ster  y'  we  had  '>^^'  ,,„„„,,  „er  Hus- 

36  years)     Ye  next  '''^      »    '  ;\^    ,„„,,  ;,  tarry  w- 
band'  pronnse  to  go  w  tl     '      °  ">  ^.^  „„,  („„ 

-  4  days,     we  pr^par     <^^^^::',,  ,>«,  .p„„  us 

iSti^r>::^'vtt:,inr^.M---)' 

New  England. 


i2-:i»,JU.'Vz:.x 


""     I.^JIUT'W'M 


388 


APl'ENDIX. 


Sept.  3. 


'I'liurs 


'rid  ay 


Sat 
6 


Wed  this  m  [morning]  my  Brother  R.  \V.  &  Br  m' 
went  lionie  Capt.  Ivellogue'  sister  came  to  us  and 
y''  neighbours  came  in  «!v:  shew''  (ireat  kindness  &  Mr 
Iviwartls  of  N.  II.  came  to  visitt  us'^ 

This  ni  I  morning  I  we  gain'd  a  promise  o  [from]  my 
Sister  &  Husband  to  tarry  with  us  untill  Monday  niglit 
Capt  K  left  us  but  his  sister  tarry'  B""  KUjah  W'""'''  ^: 
Aunt  W'"""  of  Hatf''  and  Sister  Meacham  come  to  us. 

CUitter''  &  full  of  care  &  company  joy  &  sorrow  hope  & 
fear.  This  day  came  Hither  cosen  Jn^'th"  Hunt'  Mr 
Kstabrook  an  two  of  Brother  W'""  daugters.'' 


This  day  Aunt  Piawley  came  hither  cS:  went  along 
Colen''  Stoddard,"  Cozen  J.  S.  Hunt  «S:  Sister  Hinsdell.' 
Uncle  Park  W'"*"*  and  his  xdren  came  hither  &  1  sent 
to  Capt.  Kellogue'"'  neighbors  &  friends  show  great 
kindness  affection  iS:  respect 
7  Sabbath  my  poor  sister  Attend''  y''  publick  worship  with  us  both 
parts  of  ye  day  oh  yt  this  might  be  as  a  pledge  y''  she 
'Eleazer  Williams  and  Joseph  Meacham. 

•Rev.  Jcjiiathan  Edwards,  the  great  revivalist,  then  minister  at  Northamp- 
ton, Mass. 

^Half  brother  to  Rev.  Stephen  Williams. 

■•Jonathan  Hunt  of  Deerfield,  Northfield  and  Northampton  married  Martha, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Wi. Hams  of  Pomfret,  Conn.  Me  was  grandfather  of  Lieut. 
Gov.  Jonathan  Hunt  ^f  Vernon.  Vt.,  and  great-great-grandfather  of  the  late 
William  Morris  Hunt,  artist,  and  Richard  M.  Hunt,  architect. 

■''Rev.  Hobart  Estabrook  married  one  of  the  daughters  of  Rev.  Eleazer  Wil- 
liams of  Mansfield,  Conn. 

"Colonel  John  Stoddard  of  Northampton,  son  of  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard. 

'Abigail,  half-sister  of  Rev.  Stephen  Williams,  married  (i.)  Col.  and  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Hinsdell,  founder  of  Hinsdale,  N.  H. 

'*Son  of  Samuel  and  brother  to  Rev.  John  Williams,  lived  in  Lebanon, 
Conn. 

"Joseph  Kellogg,  Interpreter. 


AITENUIX. 


389 


may  return  to  the  house  &  ordhmncesof  God  o  [from] 
w"^''  she  has  been  so  long  separated  In  y  Evenuig  we 
(Col.  S.  assisting  +  directing)  had  a  Set  discourse  with 
my  Sister  +  her  husband  and  tho  we  could  not  ob- 
tain of  y'"  to  tarry  w"'  us  yet  [they]'  have  promis'd  us 
y'  now  the  waj-  is  open  [they]  will  certainly  come  & 
make  a  visit  &  spend  a  winter  in  y''  country  among 
y''  Friends  [they]  seem  in  earnest  &  say  [they]  wont 
be  divert'''  unless  it  be  something  very  extraordinary 

Sept  8  Monday  Uncle  &  Aunt  Edwards-  Br  W  &  Br  m  iV  many 
friends  (!t  neighbors  come  to  visit  us  o''  neighbors  sent 
in  plentifully  to  us  and  come  &:  assist  us  so  y'  we  had 
Even  a  i'^east.  o''  Sister  &  Family  Din'  r..  ye  room 
w"'  y''  Company  Sister  M-'  &  I  sat  at  y-'  table  w"'  y'" 
At  evening  o''  young  people  sang  melodiously  y'  was 
very  Gratefull  to  my  Sister  and  company  i*t  I  hope  we 
are  something  endeared  to  her.  She  says  twill  hurt 
her  to  part  w"'  us. 

tuesday 
y  my  Sister  &  company  left  my  house  1  accompany''  y'" 

beyond  Westfield  about  a  mile  &  when  1  took  leave  of 
her  (I  do  think  her  affections  were  mov'')  she  repeated 
her  promise  of  coming  &  spending  a  long  time  w^''  us 
if  Cod  spared  y''  lives 

19  This  ciay  my  son  John  return''  from  Allbany  &  gives 

ace''  he  got  on  safely  with  his  company  he  tells  me  y' 
his  Aunt  &  Husband  were  well  pleas'''  with  their  visitt 
and  went  away  cheerfull" 

"1741  July  26.     Sunday  I  preach'''  at  Suffield  in  y^  evening 

came  a  messenger  to  me  [from]  Westfield  bringing  me 
an  ace'  my  Sister  was  come  tc      -stf''  [from]  Canada 

'The  characters  used  by  Mr.  Williams  for  the  names  of  his  sister  and  her 
husband,  for  the  words  "from,"  "they"  and  others  cannot  be  reproduced  in 
type. 

-Parents  of  the  renowned  Jonathan  Edwards. 

•'Esther  Williams  Meacham. 


390 


APPENDIX. 


Monday 
27 


Tuesday 
28 


Wed 
29 

Friday 

Aug  I 

«     2 

13 


upon  it  I  went  to  Capt  Kellogue  and  got  his  son  to  go 
on  to  Westfield  &  I  myself  lodg''  at  y  captains 

1  return''  home  &  Find  my  Sister  (S:  her  Husl)and  & 
two  xdren  here  I  am  glad  to  see  them  &  pray  ("rod  to 

bless  them 1  am  in  concerin   lest   they  take  y'' 

infection  of  ye  measells. 

my  Sister  &  Family  seem  Easy  &  I  rejoice  at  it 

my  brother  \v'  ham  &  his  son  went  over  to  Capt  Kel- 
logue who  has  sent  me  an  acct  what  their  sentiments 
are  1  hope  [they|  maybe  prevail''  with  to  come  & 
tarry  in  ye  country 

my  sister  i^'  company  are  gone  to  Coventry  y"  L''  be 
pleas'''  to  go  w"'  y'"' 

my  xdren  came  home  from  M  iS:  C-  having  been  w"' 
their  Aunt  [Eunice]  whom  the>'  left  at  ni  I  praise  (lotl 
for  his  smiles  respecting  this  journey 


Ye  Sabbath 

Last  n*-  Br  W  W  ^:  cosen  \V  came  hither  to  see  Sister 
E.  1  am  glad  to  see  them  ye  H  W''  preached  a  very 
agreeable  Sermon  to  us" 

'Thej'  were  probably  driven  a%vay  by  an  epidemic  of  measles  and  a  "throat 
distemper,"  then  prevalent  in  Longmeadow. 

'Mansfield  and  Coventry. 

"This  was  Tuesday.  Eunice  and  her  family  were  with  her  brother  Eleazer 
at  Mansfield.  The  day  was  set  apart  for  Prayer  for  the  Revival  of  Religion. 
On  behalf  of  Eunice,  a  sermon  was  preached  there  by  her  cousin,  the  Rev.  Sol- 
omon Williams  of  Lebanon,  Conn. 

••VVarham  Williams. 

^'Brother  Warham. 

"This  was  the  usual  Thursday  lecture.  Eunice  being  at  Coventry  lost  it. 
They  followed  her  to  Coventry  the  ne.xt  day. 


Al'l'EXniX. 


391 


14 

'5 

16 
17 

Tuesday 
18 

Sept  3 


This  day  thev  set  away  to  Coventry B    H  & 

E'  came  hither  &  lodged  here  ,       , ,       .^       f 

fhevwent  away  to  Coventry  y«  I/'  be  pleas">  to  Grant 
;'^.:  meeting  of  so  n.any  .M-iends  may  be  for  y-  bene- 
fit of  y-selves  &  of  o^  Sister     my  wife  is  poorly  of  it 

ve  Sabbath  rc^.^r,-,  I 

This  day  my  Brethren  and  Sisters  come  here  [fromj 
Below  the  l/>  Grant  o^  being  together  may  be  com- 
fortable eS:  beneficiall 

My  Br  of  m.  preached  a  sermon 

This  day  1  went  to  Westf-  to  meet  my  Sister  and  Fam- 
1     who  are  upon  y"  Return  to  Canad.^     t.s  pleasant  to 
S  e  her  but  Grievous  to  part  with  her  ye  1/  mercifully 
overru  e  y'  she  mav  yet   Return  .^  dwell  w'"  us     Oh 
^:;^h:u\ast  y^  h;arts  of   all   in   thine  hand  ^^ an ^ 
turn  V"  as  pleaseth  thee  &c  the  L"  go  w-'  y     c^  pre- 
serve V"   ^^  '-  Pl--'"  '-  '''   "'"  ^^  ^"'"'''  "' 
John  who  is  gone  w"'  them  to  Albany. 

Oh  God  bless  my  poor  Sister  Eunice  cS:  graciously 
brmg  her  &  hers  home  to  thy  Self  .^  preserve  her  on 
her  journey  &  cause  that  she  may  long  to  return  to  us 

^isday  John  return-'  home  in  safety  [from]  Albany 

having  had  a  difficult  journey." 
The  volume  of  the  Diary  from  October,   1742,  to  March, 
The  volume  «i  ^^  J  ^  ^itl,  the  parsonage  in 

in  Longmeadow  on  June  30,  1701,  ci  ^ 

•Hinsdell  and  Elijah  Williams. 


Sat 
Sept  5 


15 


spent  but  two  days  there. 


The  rest  of  her  visit  was  at 


392 


APrENDlX. 


her  family  and  Canadian  friends.    They  encamped  in  the 
orchard  behind  the  parsonage. 

1 761  June  30  This  day  my  Sister  Eunice,  her  Husband  her  daughter 
Katharine  and  others  come  hither  from  Canada.  Y'' 
L''  grant  it  may  be  in  mercy  to  her  y'  she  makes  this 
visitt  We  have  no  interpreter  and  So  can't  say  what 
her  intentions  and  pretensions  are. 

July  I  1  have  been  seeking  for  an  interpreter — have  sent  to 
Deerfield.  Thus  I  am  in  concern  Y'^'  1/'  be  pleased 
to  direct  and  bless  me — Grant  1  may  take  prudent 
measures 
2  We  attended  y*^  meeting  before  y^'  Sacrament  and  after 
meeting  people  came  in  Great  numbers  to  see  my  Sis- 
ter I  am  fearful  that  it  may  not  be  agreeable  to  be 
gazed  upon  I  am  sending  hither  and  thither  to  my  chil- 
dren &  friends,  &  I  pray  God  to  bring  them  together 
that  we  may  have  a  comfortable  &:  profitable  meeting. 
My  cares  increase  I  have  an  Interpreter  come  from 
Sunderland — sent  by  Sister  Williams  of  Deerfield' — 
but  I  fear  he  does  not  understand  y'^^  Language  very 
well — but  I  hope  will  be  somewhat  serviceable 
4  Sabbath  &  Sacrament  My  Daughters  Eunice  (!v:  Mar- 
tha are  now  here  with  me  upon  y^'  joyfull  sorrowfull 
occasion  of  my  poor  Sister  Eunice  who  is  now  with  me 
— also  her  Husband,  Katharine  and  her  Husband-  and 
a  little  son  of  Mary^  I  beg  God  to  Direct  me  what  to 
do  for  my  Sister,  be  pleased  to  incline  <S:  dispose  her 
and  her  Husband  to  come  into  or  comply  with  such 
measures  as  may  have  a  proper  tendency  to  promote 
her  Spiritual  &  Eternal  Good,  &  that  of  her  family  & 
Offspring 

'His  step-sister  Abigail,  wife  of  Rev.  and  Col.  El)enezer  Hinsclcii. 

'■'Fran9ois-Xavier  Onosategen,  "Grand  Clief"  of  Caugiinawaga. 

•'This  was  Mary's  only  child,  Thomas   TehorakSannegen,    then    two    years 
old.     He  became  the  father  of  Eleazer,  the  so-called  Dauphin. 


IM 


APrENn^>^- 


393 


lO 


,  1   uu  wife    Stephen  with   our  In- 

My  children  John  and  ^^    ^  ^  '        }    Our  Company  .S: 

terpreter  M-  Dodge  -^^^ ^:;^ ,,,,,,,,,,  with  my 
Cares  increase  .  .  •  •  •        '  j^,,,.  .^^  ^  dis- 

Sister  >V  her  "--•/;; ';'-;,:',;:;     1  .„,  .a  a  great 
i::irurVlrtrsel.ta.e.vHat™ea.,re..o., 

HoVand  we  are  fatigue..  ..  fuU  of  Co„n>^>ny-'  "S"' 
my  wife  poorly  company  left  us     I 

.,L  ---"«"'v:"'ber  ^^  -- 1 "™"'  -  ""- 

think  1  have  useJ  y    be^t       g  ^^.^^^  ^^^  ^^,j 

suade  her  to  tarry  ancl  ^-:^J^^^     ^  „,„,t  leave  y" 
at  present  they  have  been  ineteetua  „,,,,„  i 

■"--  "■'"  '^-ritif  :;:  he    lught^-  ,n  the  „ar- 
-  •-;:11S  :;;s^anO    see.,   at^- .  - 

rrt;l:ir°.^eU:::rtre„;hraee    y.^  reason  of 

,stepJ~--'-r.->-ft"^;oe 

it  of  Euitice  to  DeerfieW.    She  c  ^^^  ^^^^_^^_  ^^^^     ^„ 

Westfield,  escorted  back  '•^"'1    ""  Her  father  died  m 

her  last  visit,  by  S'«=P>7^^  fi^-^t^vsitto  New  Ettgland  and 
Ueerfield  a  year  before  he.   A-^  |  elsewhere.     There 

thesttrviving  ^'^'"'"[^Zll^md,  except  a  natttral  destre 
^asttothittgtotakehertol^erfie    ,  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ., 

to  see  the  place  of  her  bum. 

proved  •.  "  the  following :  ^,^  .,,_„^  ,„„.,,, 

™„■ro^v^■»v■r„.e«An,.^^o  ^,^^^^  ^^^._^  _^^ 

..on  the  .."'  of   .ast  month,  otu   v    a  ^^^^  ^„^  ,„  , ,  ,, 

,The,.  seems  .c  „a.e  been  more  "--^  ^^'"^L.Uess   .he   Presence   o. 

Katharine  s  husoaim,  ^ 


394 


APPENDIX. 


three  families  of  Indians  amounting  in  all  to  twenty-three  of  various 
ages  calling  themselves  by  the  name  of  Williams  on  the  ground  of 
being  descendants  of  Eunice  The  eldest  of  the  party,  a  woman 
stating  her  age  to  be  eighty  years  claimed  to  be  the  grand-daughter 
of  Eunice  adding  that  She  perfectly  remembered  her  grand- 
mother  During  their  short  stay,  a  little  more  than  a  week, 

they  encamped  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village,  employing  their  time 
not  otherwise  occupied,  in  making  baskets.  They  visited  the  graves 
of  their  ancestors,  Rev.  Mr  Williams  and  wife,  and  attended  divine 
service  on  Sunday  in  an  orderly  and  reverent  manner.  'I'hey  refused 
to  receive  company  on  the  Sabbath,  and  at  all  times,  and  in  all  re- 
spects seemed  disposed  to  conduct  themselves  decently  and  inoffen- 
sively    During    their  Stay  with    us, their    encampment    was 

frequented  by  great  numbers  of  persons,  almost  denying  them  time 
to  take  their  ordinary  meals,  but  affording  them  as  if  to  make  amends 
for  such  inconvenience  and  privation,  a  ready  sale  for  their  fabrics.' 
On  the  first  of  September  they  decamped  and  commenced  their 
homeward  progress  towards  ('anada." 

The  visit  of  these  Indians  to  Deerfield,  seems  to  corrobo- 
rate the  Longmeadow  evidence  of  Eunice's  love  for  New 
England.  The  possibility  that  the  old  squaw  was  a  grand- 
daughter of  Eunice  is  refuted,  however,  by  what  we  now 
know  of  her  posterity,  Thomas  Tehorakwaneken  Vjeing  her 
only  grandchild.  This  old  woman  may  have  been  one  of 
Catharine's  adopted  daughters, — or  one  of  the  c;hildren  of 
Louis  Satagaienton,  the  husband  of  Eunice's  daughter  Mary, 
— by  his  second  marriage. 


D. 


ENSIGN   JOHN    SHELDON. 


On  his  rettirn  from  captivity,  Rev.  John  Williams  did  not 

'Several  of  these  baskets  are  still  extant  in  Deerfield. 


APPENDIX.  395 


go\ack  immediately  to  Deevfield,  l^;--g  "':>'"-">.  fp^j'j'^;!^ 

"His"t°"on  Eleazer,  being  away  at  school  had  escaped 
th"ialamity  at  Deerfield  and  "by  the  help  of  divers  char.t . 
S    ;e;™  Especially  in  Boston,"  entered  Harvard  C„,U=ge 
,  705  and  was  a  Freshman  there  at  the  tune  °lh.^  ^^'I^c   ^J^'^, 
turn-  and  "living  in  the  chamber  over  me,     says    Thomas 
See,  tten  a  Sophomore,  "I  fell  into  an  int  mate  acc,namt 
nneew  th  him,"     Just  a  week  after  h,s  arrival,'  M..  WiHums 
de  fvJ    d  the  Thtirsday  lecture  in  Boston,  and  the  two  kids 
wilked  in  from  Cambridge  together  by  way     f    ""kI^'"  • 
Teven   nUes  if  we  may  credit   the   ancient   milestone   still 
smclingn  Cambridge,  to  hear  the  lecture:  "I.  with  m.W 
Xrs  went  down,"  says  Prince,  "and  in  an  auditory  exceed- 
m<rlv  crowded  and  affected,  I  heard  the  sermon. 

On  the  7th  Samuel  Sewall  "invited  the  Governor  to  dine 
nt  Holmes  s"'  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Sheldon  were  among  the 
gu"  t  Mr.  WiUiams-s  .sermon  and  the  Deerfield  captivities 
mlide  a  profound  impression  on  Thomas  Prince.    In  1757  he 

"''Ivom  the  instance  of  thi.  one  town  only,  we  -y  '-;"  "^jf.'^ 
„„„,..  o.  Uie  present  peojile  ^J^-]^::^^:!^ 
rot;';!    :ri:l:i  a  vi-rLnTarniyof  onrs  into  Cana..,  .vih 

iPrince  says  he  arrived  Dec.  6.     Sewall  says  Dec.  5- 

■  S  In.   D;ary.     V„..  U.  p.  .„,     ...  -"-■-i:!;  ^^  .'Ip^^ly^r:  ! 

•r''''r''"^''""\"otx"r^::«u'se:.  -  ^e:7wen.^.ou.K  ■ ... . 

:  1'  "spaUe  ;.a.  a  lull  o,  Coarhs  .i^M  .e  ,.a.e  here  ,0,  Mr.  W.U.a^s. 


39^  APPENDIX. 


E. 


MY  HUNT   FOR   THE   CAPTIVES. 

Among  other  very  rare  books  in  the  library  of  the  "Po- 
cumtuck  Valley  Memorial  Association,"  at  Deerfield,  (a  mon- 
ument to  the  devotion  and  labor  of  the  Hon.  George  Shel- 
don,) is  one  entitled  in  part,  "Good  Fetched  out  of  Evil,  in 
three  Short  Essays." 

No  perfect  copy  of  this  book  is  known  ;  that  at  Deerfield 
is  perhaps  the  most  perfect.  With  other  treasures,  it  con- 
tains the  following  poem  written  by  Mary  French,  daughter 
of  Dea.  Thomas  French  : 

"The  Singular  Circumstances  of  the  little  Authoress,  will  make 
Atonement  for  it,  if  we  now  add  a  Poem,  Written  by  a  Captive 
Damsel,  about  Sixteen  or  Seventeen  years  of  Age;  who  being  afraid 
that  her  Younger  Sister,  at  a  Distance  from  her  would  be  led  away 
by  the  Popish  Delusions,  addressed  her  in  these  Lines  :  " 

Dear  Sister,  JESUS  does  you  call 

To  Walk  on  in  His  Ways. 
I  pray,  make  no  Delay  at  all, 

Now  in  your  Youthful  Dayes. 

O  Turn  to  Him,  who  has  you  made, 

While  in  your  Tender  years: 
For  as  the  Withering  Grass  we  fade, 

which  never  more  appears. 

But  if  that  God  should  you  afford 

a  longer  Life  to  Live, 
Remember  that  unto  the  Lord 

the  Praises  you  do  give. 

We  still  are  called  to  Begin 

while  we  are  in  our  Youth. 
For  to  depart  from  ways  of  Sin, 

and  Serve  the  Lord  in  Truth. 

Tis  not  To  Aforroxu,  Christ  doth  Say 

that  we  shall  Mercy  find; 
Oh,  then  while  it  is  cal'.'d.  To  Day, 

your  Great  Creator  Mind. 


Al-rKNDlX. 


397 


Wc  are  not  certain  in  this  World 

We  have  an  Hour  to  Spend; 
But  suddenly  we  may  lje  hurl  d 

where  lime  shall  have  an  bnil. 

ll.nv  soon  may  this  sad  News  be  told. 

we  no  Assurance  have; 
In  Winding  Sheets  our  Corpse  Ik-  roll  d 
and  we  laid  in  the  Grave. 

But  still  our  Souls  must  Live  for  aye 

in  Endless  Bliss  or  Wo. 
If  Unprepared  at  the  Day, 

we  down  to  Hell  do  go. 

The  Officer,  as  Christ  hath  said. 

Shall  us  in  Prison  bind. 
Until  the  last  Farthing  be  paid, 

we  there  must  be  Confin  d. 

Since  we  so  oft  of  this  do  hear. 

Our  Teachers  have  us  told. 
We  shall  without  excuse  appear. 

If  we  lo  Sin  are  bold. 
To  dare  the  pow'r  of  Hell  and  Death! 

vea.  and  of  God  most  High! 
Oh!     Let  us,  while  we  have  our  Breath 

Prostrate  before  Himly. 

And  let  us  Wisdom  now  desire 

before  our  glass  is  run; 
For  Understanding  Lets  Enquire 

while  Shining  is  our  Sun. 

All  Wisdoms  ways  are  Pleasantness. 

and  all  its  Pathes  are  Peace. 
Those  that  Gods  Throne  aright  address. 

their  Joy  shall  never  Cease. 

Set  not  your  Heart  on  fading  Toyes, 
but  still  Gods  Grace  implore; 

At  His  Right  Hand  are  Endless  Joyes 
and  Pleasures  ever  more. 

That  Earthly  Things  are  fading  flow'rs 

We  bv  Experience  see; 
And  of  our  Years  and  Days  and  Hours 

we  as  uncertain  be. 

Of  all  Degrees,  and  Everv  Age, 

among  the  Dead  we  find; 
Many  there  fell  by  bloody  rage, 

When  we  were  left  behind. 


gSSBtaSBf 


mmm 


.v;« 


AI'I'KNIUN. 


I.rt  us  1)0  Silent  llicn  this  day 

under  otir  SniariliiK  Rod. 
Let  us  witii  I'iUicnce  Meekly  siiy, 

//  is  ///<•  /F/7/  «/  Cxi. 

Of  Friends  and  Parents,  wee're  liereav'd, 

Disiress't,  and  Left  alone; 
Lord,  We  thy  Spirit  oft  have  ^riev'd; 

And  now  as  Doves  we  moan. 

For  any  Worthiness  of  ours 

No  mercy  ask  we  can; 
Ihit  still  (>od   hath  laid  Helps  and  i*ow'rs 

upon  the  Son  of  Man. 

Now  when  the  Saiilnii/i  doth  hejjin 

with  sorrow  we  do  say, 
O/i!    'I'liat  wc  7iV>r  Ciu/'s  llome  wil/iin, 

7\>  h',r/>  His  Ifi>/y  Day! 

For  ("lOtl  hath  in  His  Anner  hot 

Out  of  Ilis  Sanctuary 
Us  hanished  far,  that  we  hear  nut 

its  IMeasaiil  Melody. 

The  Temple  Sonj^s  from  us  are  gone, 

to  Siglis  they  turned  he; 
Ensnar'd  we  are,  and  there  is  none 

on  Earth  to  set  us  free. 


It  is  the  mighty  Hand  i>f  (iod 
from  which  no  man  can  Hy. 

Wee're  under  both  His  grevious   Ro<l 
and  His  all-seeing  Eye. 

Dear  Sish'i\  for  yon  sake  now  I 
these  Verses  Written  have. 

Bear  them  upon  your  Memory, 
as  going  to  the  Grave. 

Drar  Sister,  Bear  me  in  your  Mind; 

Learn  these  few  Lines  by  heart; 
Alas,  an  aking  Heart  I  find, 

Since  we're  so  long  to  part. 

But  to  the  Care  of  God  on  high 
Our  cause  we  will  commend. 

For  your  Soul-sake  these  Lines  now  I 
Your  Loving  Sister  send. 


MAKY    I'KIONCII. 


December  23,  1703.     [5?] 


Al'l'KM'IN. 


.VJ9 


F. 


TllANKl-UI.   STKIllUNS. 

is  given  us  a  J^ood  example  oi  ui^ 

dian  parishes :  /• /^/rz-n   ,iid>laron 


KURA  lA. 


Page  3,3,  for  "Taylor,"  rea.l  Fesse.ulen. 


INDEX. 


M  a8  ■■!■    I  - — ^....rz:^ 


h 


1  N  I)  i^:  X 


Tl» 


NAMI'.S   oV   CaI'TIVKS. 


\    .hirns.  J:un.-s,  .t7-'J.  '7« '),  '«7. 
/\       All'M,  K.iwar.l,  270. 
Arms,  !uh..,'-i.l.,  3-7.  325.  35H-M. 

yXusiiii,  Mary,  5'- 


1    )aUrr,<:iniM,n-,(s.'.'.Oli.). 
1-5  •l■|,..■uns,25--^32■4.  >4«.  >^.^ 

I  Ho,  'iV>,  '-!44.  3^'7. 

HarlU-U,  l-sepl.,  2"3,  3"-5. 
H,,r.f,.Man.Kli-t-th,    s..    HurM). 

Mr.ullcy,  \ViU-"f  J-'S^'l'-^?,  '"S- 

\  Mary,         ,       I  i.jo,  205. 
Brooks,     I  Marie  Claire,  ) 

Nulliii'ii'-l'  'i!7"- 


Dav.-liiy,     Marie     iManyi'^^'.     (see 
Kreiieli). 
Davids,  Saras,  :M2> 
Davis,  Mary  Amie,  57. 
De  rKslage,   Marie,    loscpli,    (see    ^lay- 

wanl). 
Dcnio,  lames,  (see  DeNoyon.Jaoiues). 

De.iUy.i,  Cailiarine,  •2o7- 

Noyon,  Ja..,ues,  206-8,  2..,  2.3. 
215-21,  251J-''".  '-^''3,  27'J, 
2H1. 

Di<  kinsoii,  ()ba<liah.  124. 
D.n.i.H.lel,  r.li/aheth,  (see  Corse). 


K 


^astinaii,  Airios,  340- 


Charter,  Jolia,  I5'>- 
^      Casse,  (sec  Corse). 
CaUin,Mary,(Mal.lwin),  i.)5-277,'-'^2, 

318. 
Mary,  (see  I'reiich;. 
C,,a,Hn,llannal..(seeShel.lon). 

Chub,  Jabe/.,  342- 
Clesson,  Joseph,  241.  3'7- 
Corse.  Elizabeth,  2o4-(n  20.J,  2^.2. 


-T^i^  (     MaUh<-w,  {. 

H    ariisworlli,     J     Malliias  Clau'le,  ) 

47,  2()2. 

Fleteher,  I'e.i.llelon,  4'^ 

iMjote,  Mary,  123,  I25- 

Former,  Joseph,  34 '•  , 

,    M'lrie  Eli/iibelh,(see  I'rict). 
bourne    J,  Wiarie 

Freeman,  Samuel,  34i- 


-I'M 


INDKX. 


Frciuh,  AhiKMil,  131,  2113,  271),  283,  2()<). 


i()2-f),  262, 


\  i'"iccil()m, 

(  Maiiu  I'raiK^oisi;, 

283. 
JdIiii,  2(i3,  27(j-Hu,  282. 

/  Maril.i-  MarKii.iili-.  i  '•^''  '   -^ 

(,,   283-4,    2<J(). 

Mary,  (Call in),  203,  277,  27(j-82. 
Mary,  203,  283,  y/),  y)H. 
'riiumas,  (Dciuoti),  131,  203,  275, 

277-8.1,  2(jij,  302. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  203,  2.42,  283. 


/^  c;rrisli,  S.irali,  H). 

V_J       (jillctli;,   (sec    Sicp-childrt'ii    of 

Stephci)  J('iiiiiiigs). 
(lilinaii,  Jatdl),  203. 
(iradt'V,  Hcrncy,  34  1 . 
(Iii/alcin    (scL-  VVarn-ii). 


HaiK  oik,  ( )iier.  340. 
Ilariiiori,  |<)liiis(Jii,   i.)o,  35cj-fio, 
364-6,  368,  370,  379. 
Halfield,  Capliviis,    no,   117,   120,    (22, 

i2,)-6,  232. 
Hill,  Al.iali,  .\(). 

I'-hciu-ZLT,   .\^-'). 

linnhvi  Joseph's  (lauj;hter,  4(j. 

Samuel,  48. (j,  i78-«:/,   183. 
Uinkley,  Kiiou.ird,  340 
Hinsdale,  Midiiu.-aii,  ^35-6,  2,1,  275. 
Hoit,  (see  Iloyt). 
Homes,  Anna,  343. 

Hoyt,  David,  (  Deacon  and  Lieulcnanl), 
274,  277,  281,  283. 

Jonathan,  184,  307. 

Sarali,  152-3,  236. 
Iluggins,  Margaret,  Iij5,  i(j(j,  200. 


Hull,  Klizalielli,  235. 

II        .    i  IChenezer,  / 

I  lursi,  -J   A     .    .       M-     1       r    202-3. 
/  Antoine  Nicolas,  )  ■* 

{  Kli/ahelh.  / 

i  Marie  Klizahelh,    f  ="'''•  ^''"■ 

I  llannali,       ) 

/Kaieunoni,  [  '^'"''^^    -••'    -^'• 

255- 

j  Sarah  (h  (Tries)  ) 

i   M      .:       I  !    201-3,    250-1. 

(  Mane  J(^'lnne     j  -"'      ■' 

Sarah,  201-3,  .^51. 

Thomas,  201-3,  244,  251,  262. 


I 


ngersol,  Ksther,  (s(;e  }on(!s). 


Jtflfiies,  .Sarah,  (see  llurslj. 
Jenkins,  I'hillipps,  3.}2. 
Jennings,  ("apiivily,  126. 

Wife  of  Stephen,  121,  123,  266. 
(Gillette)  Slep-children  of  Steph- 
en, 121. 
Jeryan,  Dorothte,  (see  Jordan). 
Jones,  ICsther,  195,  Kjij-201. 
Jordan,  DorolhOe,  57. 


K 


ellogg,  Joseph,  387-8,    3'J". 

Martin,  25,    148,    152,    180, 
240-1,  244,  274. 


Ie  Mean,  Christine,  (see  Otis). 
J 

Liiiicficid.  ji^:""""'.       ,.     [262. 

'  /  Pierre  Augustm,    \ 
Josiah,  51.  367. 
Lumbart,  Samuel,  340. 


JNl)K>^- 


405 


I  "Oiirsoiis,   llamK.li,  207. 

Ma,kerty.Tl.ii....iy,  J.ji.  „,,     11  Pcuy,  |osr,.h.  i-jH,  iH...  2.in. 

M;uiu<l.-s  AnKes,(src  M,iry>^.iyw  ^^^    _^^^  ^ ,,  ^  ^ 


MartcMi,  J')l>'>.  3r.V  ,      .  IKli/alirlli,  '    -^of.-?,  2fj2, 


M^iiard,      Mi 

KrciK  li)- 
MiU;lu-n,  Salomon.  34'- 

.  347-R>35>-3. 

Mnn.l,  Wi/alKMh,  (sc.  Corse). 


^ 


27(1,    '2H1. 


-T^T.sil,  'riioin.is, 


3r- 


t  Abi^'.ail,  .    H5,    '235-1'. 

Niiiis,  j  ivlarii:  Kli/;'>"ili,  ^ 

243-<;.  253.  '-"OS- 

Kbenczcr,  I53,  235,  243- 

I':t>eii(;/L-r,  Jr.,  «52-3- 

^^■^^^.  ,,f  (Iddfri-y,  235- 

J..l,-K  .33,  >4«.  '«•'•  '-^3l-5,24"-3. 

Sarah,  (sc;  lloyl)- 

Nul.le,  M.i^ail,  31'.  3-13-4- 

Hciijaniin,  344- 

I'.linor,  355- 

Frances,  344- 

John,  343. 

Joseph,  344- 

La/.anis,  342- 

Marie,  343- 

M  alt  lie  w,  344- 

Children,  347-  35 '-3- 


/^  \u.i.-nbniils,  Riuliel,  I    ,,,,,. 
V  J      (.jnacluiil'iish,         ) 


Oai/enn.,   iK"a.<.(M-eK.MnK). 
\:i      K,shw..nh,Mary,(-el'l."^'-i)- 
Susannah,  77- 

\  Josiali,    t     226.7.  235-4>.  243- 
RisioK,     ,  ljr„a<e,  \ 

4,  24M.  253.  255-''- 
Rolnlaille,  Marie  Madeleine,  (s.-e  War- 

Roi,  Mar.heMarKUcrile.(seel'-remh). 

Ross,  lolm,  343- 

William,  343- 
Kussell,San.uel,  no,  ".j,  >23,  '25. 


s 


layer,  (see  Say  ward). 


(|  ICsiher, 


/ 


0\    Margaret,     I     1,,,  23-34-  '32, 
l'-^.     (    Chrisiine.    S 

152-3,  207,  2C2,  333-5- 

(  (iriz.d,  '    (see   War- 

\  Marie  Madeleine,  S 

reii). 


,       ,  .- •.  ,     ,     2.),     77. 

Sayward,     ^  Marie,  loseph,  ) 

7<).82,  H4-7,  207,  37'J- 

^M^Cienevieve.  [.p,.77,   7<J- 
(  Marie  des  AtiKes,  ) 

H5,    H7,    237,    23«)-4'>-    244. 
2.\(>,  253,  379- 
Sehinner.  Kli/.aheih,  341- 

i  Elisha,    /       ,    ,,,,,    200. 
Searle,      f  M  ichel.  ^  '  ^^'     '^ 
Sheldon.  Ebenezer.  .08.  .88,  240. 


4o6 


IN'DKX. 


Shfldoii,  lliitiiiiih,  (Chai)iri),  48-9,    168, 
178,  180-1,  2()f),  276,  281. 

Mary,  48,  168,  178,   187. 
Rcmemljraiice,  48,  if)8,  178,  188, 
240. 

^'■-^•1    Sd.lej     32.,    323.    325-J. 

379- 
Stannard,  Thomas,  340 
Slarkes,  Jean,  341. 
Staats,  Harcnt,  358. 

IAbif,'ail.  ) 

Galjrielle,      v  53,  2(jf)-8,  21 1, 
Marguerite,  ) 
217-21,    259-60,    262,    2O7, 
270,  276,  "81. 

Bcnoni,  loij,  114-17.  161-2,167, 
229-33,  235,  274-5,  278-9, 
281,  283. 

Dorothy,  (Alexander),  207-8,  219, 
259,  263,  274. 

(  Ebetie/.er,  I   „  _  „.     „ 

1  I  Ai     1       f  207,219-20, 

(  Jactiues  Charles,  )        '       -' 

260. 
John,    207-8,    219-20,    259,     263, 

274. 
John,  [r.,  207,  219-21. 
Joseph,  207,  220-1,  2()S. 
Samuel,  207,  220-1,  260. 

{  Thankful,  /     ,   ,      „, 

.1       •       tL-   -  .    207,     219- 

(  Louise    i  herese,     \        '  ' 

20,  261-3,  ~^7-l'-  3'J'J- 
Stevens,  Klizabelh,  (see  Price). 

Capt.    Phineas,   335-4\  342,  344- 
6,  348,  35^'- 
Stockweil,    Ouentin,    109-15,  117,    119- 

21,  124-5,    13".    231,    266, 
273.   277. 

Storer 251. 

Mary,  48-9,51. 
j  Pri^-cilla, 


(  Marie  Priscillc,  ) 
Rachel,  51. 


141, 


T,,  i  Cliarles,  }.■ 

rafton,      <  ,       •    ».     •  -  262. 

/  Louis  ^Llrl<.',  \ 

Turhot,  Abigail,  200-1. 


^'T'an  Scliaark  Anthony,  353. 


w 


lite,  Benjairiin's  Wife.  .13,  124, 
226. 


Canada,   126. 
Warren,  j;^'^;^;^',,^^^,,^,^,,,^^. 9.  23-4. 
27-8,    30-1,    132,   201,  262, 

333-5. 

Webb,  Seth,  340,  344. 

Wells,  llepziljah,  (Helding)  172,  177. 

f  Estlier,  I 

,,,,       ,       .    ,  S'  ICstlier    Marie         I 

Wheelwright,    .  j^^^^.^^,^    ^,^  I'Enfant  j 

IJ6SUS,  J 

45,  48-68,  335-6,  355,  379. 

\  Whitney,  Solomon         (  ~  ,  , 
]  Whitlcn  or  Whidden    f  ■^■♦'+- 

{  Whitney,  Timothv,   )  „    , 
I  Whition,  ■      f344- 

Williams,  Esther,  iSo,  386,  389. 

Eunice,    [.Mathvr)    130.  196,  279- 

80,  386,  394. 
(Eunice,  i 

-J  Marguerite,  >  25,  56, 

(  Marguerite    Saoii'gol,  ) 

13"-',  '33-49.  '5'-».  252, 
359.  3'''2,  366,  372-4,  376, 
379.84,  386.94. 
Rev.  John,  130,  134-7.  '43.  '47 
8,  150-2,  162,  167,  171,  176- 
Hi,  18  ■9,  191,  193,  i9(>-8, 
200,  2i  ',  21K,  234,  242,  244. 
265-6,  273-4,  279-80,  307, 
320,  333,  3^)2,366,  371,373. 
386.  394-5. 


\ViUiun.s,S;i.nucl,  53.188.  i<)5 

207.  242-3.  25^.  38<'- 
Steph.,.,  .76.  .80.  .84.  2f.f.,  38f. 

93- 
Warham,  188,  38f>,   3'}". 
ZclKMiab,  133.234-5,  3"('. 


INDKX. 


407 


Y 


„rU,Samud,  2i5-'f'. 


